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Category Archives: Guest Bloggers on BnV

#GuestBloggers – How to #Edit #Fiction by Kathryn Wells

06 Sunday May 2018

Posted by Morgan in Guest Bloggers on BnV

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Authors, BnV, BooknVolume, creative writing, Editing Tips, Guest Blogger, Indie Authors, Writers, Writing Tips, ~Morgan~

.

Knowing what to do after you’ve *finally* finished the first draft of your manuscript and have mopped up all the blood, sweat and tears that went into it can be a bit of a mystery if you’re new to the game. You know editing comes into it, and you may have heard about beta readers, but what comes first, and more importantly, how do you go get started?

To help with the cacophony of questions littering your head, I’ve made a general guide to help you get going. This is very much based off my own experience, and is not an exhaustive list:

  1. After you’ve written that last word on your manuscript, put the whole thing away somewhere and leave it for a good amount of time (I personally leave it for about three months, but others leave it for longer) and get on with other things. Start a new project; finish any others lurking around; if you’re thinking about publication, research which avenue might be best for you and what that entails; basically, anything to keep your mind stimulated but doesn’t involve that first draft. This is to make sure that when you do eventually go back to it, you can view it with fresh eyes – meaning that plot holes, weak characters or lack of world building will jump out at you and therefore be easier to fix.
  1. Don’t focus on spelling or wording on this initial edit. Look at the big picture instead. Are there any holes in your plot? Do your characters feel flat or serve no purpose? Does the story start in the right place, or are the first few chapters unnecessary? What scenes work, and what don’t? If you’re finding it hard to tell if certain points of the story are unnecessary, try removing them and see if it affects the overall plot. If the plot still flows, then those scenes (however beautifully written they are/despite how much you personally love them) have to go. Nothing ruins a good book more that scenes that jar the pacing by adding nothing.
  1. Once you’ve fixed the big issues with your manuscript, you can either put it away again, or continue on to the next stage. Again, I personally leave it for a bit because I know I get far too close to my work.
  1. Now it’s time to really focus on your characters and world building. Your characters need to feel like real people – give goals and dreams, flaws and bad habits, and don’t hole them up into stereotypes. If they’re from very different backgrounds/circumstances to you, make sure you do your research – not only to make them realistic, but to avoid being insensitive to readers. (If you’re worried about your representation of people from different walks of life to you, you can always hire a sensitivity reader at a later stage.) When working on world building, think about the social structure of each place, use all five senses to describe things and make sure you don’t fall into the pit of info dumping. Also, in dialogues scenes, look out for ‘white room syndrome’, when no description about where or when the scene takes place is included.
  1. Next, we get in to the more technical aspects of writing. Tense, point of view and grammar. (If you feel your manuscript is shaping up nicely, you can start looking at spelling, over-use of words and continuity, but I would leave that until last.) It doesn’t matter what point of view you use, or what tense, as long as you keep them consistent throughout the manuscript – unless you have a very good reason not to, like an intentional stylistic change to illustrate a certain point. If you struggle with grammar, there are a lot of helpful books and forums, as well as YouTube guides. (I have a book on grammar that’s actually written for kids, but the language and examples are so clear that it’s the one I go to most.)
  1. The stages of editing can get a bit murky here – some writers have to repeat steps until they’re happy and end up with a good number of drafts, others breeze right through and end up with relatively few. However, whether you’ve done a lot of back and forth on your work or not, this part is important. Read your work aloud. I’ll say it again: READ YOUR WORK ALOUD. From start to finish, until you’re sick of the sound of your own voice. This is so you can clearly see problems with sentence structure, missing words, typos, continuity, repetitive description and all that jazz (as readers we’re always pleased to spot others’ mistakes, but are far less pleased as writers if someone kindly points them out in our own work).
  1. Finally, when you are happy with your manuscript and can’t find anything else to work on, it’s time to send your work to beta readers. These can be other writers, friends, family or simply people you know love to read. What is important to note, however, is that it’s far more helpful to send your work to readers who readily consume books in that genre than ones who have never read/rarely read within your genre, as the feedback you receive will be more relevant. When you do receive feedback, look for trends in what people are saying. If eight people say a scene isn’t working, then it’s probably wise to take another look and see if it truly does need revising. If one beta reader hates a character but the others love them/make no comment, then perhaps that’s just their personal taste. Consider all feedback, but remember that it is still your work, so you have the final decision on what to change.

So there you have it. Where you take your work from there is completely up to you. Whether you opt for traditional publishing, self-publishing or somewhere in-between (be absolutely sure you don’t head down the path of vanity publishing – an old but good rule on how to tell a vanity publisher from a real one is that money should always flow to the author, not away) make sure you do your research.

Kathryn is a children’s and YA author, and currently has her fantasy trilogy, Half-Wizard Thordric, published with Creativia Publishing. Her YA speculative fiction novel, The Origin Stone, will be published in March 2019 by Nuff Said Publishing.

An avid reader, she also writes poetry, book reviews and short stories. She loves animals and is a slave to a parrot and budgie, and currently lives on the Isle of Wight with her husband, a curious and eccentric being who never fails to provide her with inspiration. You can find her on twitter @KaptainKat90, or go directly to her website www.kathrynwells.co.uk.

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~Kathryn Wells~

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#GuestBloggers – Grandpappy’s Cows – Mary Deal

05 Saturday May 2018

Posted by Morgan in Guest Bloggers on BnV

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

BnV, BooknVolume, creative writing, Guest Authors, Guest Blogger, Guest Posts, Humor, Writers, ~Morgan~

Grandpappy’s Cows  by Mary Deal

Grammy and Grandpappy had fifteen youngins of their own, so I had a mess o’ cousins. Most of the boys looked the same, with straggly dirty blonde hair and mean squinty eyes. We girls was better. We looked different from one another by our hair color and sizes of our bosoms.

Grandpappy moved lots of us to a run-down trailer park near the railroad tracks. Him and Grammy lived in a doublewide next to the meadow ’cause they kept a milk cow. As neighbors moved out, more of our kin moved in. No matter the trailers was abandoned ’cause they was old, we was a family that stuck together. Pretty soon our kin took over every useable trailer in that danged weed-infested field. The poor folk thought we was rich.

Everyone who visited asked to go see the rest of them empty trailers. I sneaked and seen ’em already and they was empty, except for some mattresses the hobos left behind. When I asked why my uncles always brought their girlfriends around to inspect those old trailers when they went out on dates, Grandpappy said, “They just want to bless our new home.” Then he’d slap his knee and bellow till his eyes watered and he started to coughin’. He never let me go see with the other people and got downright nasty when I tried. “You stay put, li’l girlie,” he said. “There’s time enough to learn about life.”

My daddy was a jack-of-all-trades and him and Grandpappy joined some of them trailers so’s you could walk from one to another without goin’ outside. When friends come over for some honky-tonkin’, those old trailers would rock and once the rotted tires exploded on one of ’em.

Effie May was my closest cousin. She was older ’n me. The boys said she was built like a cow. Sometimes when they headed off to the trailers, they said they was gonna go milk the cows. Like it was a dirty joke or somethin’. Effie May hung out with the boys a lot. She said they was her kissin’ cousins.

One day, Effie May whispered to me, “They calm my yearnins, ya’ know?”

I didn’t know. I saw her and cousin Wilma Lou, who my momma told me to stay away from, go in and out of them abandoned trailers on the other side of the park with a bunch of boys time and again. Effie May was awful smart, said she knew how to be of service to folks. She always had money. But me? I didn’t want to be nobody’s servant. Me and my momma was close. I was blonde-headed like the rest of my kin, but my hair picked up some of my momma’s red. I liked her the most, better ’n Effie May, ’cause Momma explained things to me.

As we kids was growin’ up, I guess Grandpappy thought he still had to feed the whole brood. One day after Grammy gave away the old cow that dried up, he come home with another.

“I’m tired of sittin’ around all day shaking the cream to the top of that jar just to make butter,” Grammy said.

“Well, we cain’t afford the store-bought stuff yet either,” Grandpappy said.

Johnny Jeb was one cousin always up to no good. He used to squeeze the cow’s udder so we could drink when we got thirsty while we was playin’. He’d squirt us just to be mean. We was lucky Grandpappy never knowed what the soggy stains was on our clothes and why leaves stuck in our hair ’cause sometimes after getting pushed in, we swam in the creek with our clothes on and he couldn’t tell the difference.

“You grandkids are dirtier ’n my own ever was,” he would say. “And to think you live better off today.”

Some of my aunts and uncles took a broom to their kids for coming home dirty. My momma just smiled and poured water into the old tin tub, throwed me a bar of Grammy’s lye soap, and said, “You soak good now, Darlin’.”

Grandpappy couldn’t figure out why the cow didn’t give much milk. He was attached to Bossie, his latest cow, and instead of getting rid of her, he brung home another.

Johnny Jeb loved that. He taught cousin Bobby Zeke to squirt and they had milk fights in the meadow. When the rest of us got to laughin’, we all learned to squirt.

Grandpa got a third cow just so’s he could get enough milk together for all our families every day. Anyway, between the three, they kept the weeds down real good. But it stunk some and the boys was put to scrapin’ up the cow-pies and tossin’ ’em into an empty field. Us girls stayed away from them dung fights.

Later on, when I started thinkin’ about boys, I looked in the mirror to see what they was a-winkin’ at. My bosoms finally growed like Effie May’s. My kin said I wasn’t bad looking and my hair always shined like sunlight.

“Why’d you s’pose that is?” I asked my momma one day.

“Musta’ been all that fresh cream you got in your hair when you was a kid,” she said.

I never knew she knowed. I have a right smart image of my momma now that I know she let us kids enjoy the fun we had back then. I looked at her real hard ’cause I admired her more all of a sudden. Her brassy hair was so shiny.

My daddy said I matured real nice. He always paced around lookin’ at me like I was the chunk of gold that was gonna make him rich or somethin’. I wondered if him and Momma would let me go honky-tonkin’. Effie May said she could tell me how to take care of my yearnins.

 

*  *  *  *  *

 

Find this hilarious story and others among myriad explanatory articles about writing, including examples, in Write It Right – Tips for Authors – The Big Book on Amazon. Here: https://tinyurl.com/y8m7fkkr

 

*  *  *  *  *

 

Mary Deal is an Amazon best-selling and award-winning author of suspense/thrillers, a short story collection, writers’ references, and self-help. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, Artist and Photographer, and former newspaper columnist and magazine editor. She is currently writing the third story in her Sara Mason Mystery Series. A long romance novel, which is a new genre for her is presently in process for publication.

She has traveled a great deal and has a lifetime of diverse experiences, all of which remain in memory as fodder for her fiction. A native of California’s Sacramento River Delta, where some of her stories are set, she has also lived in England, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is also an oil painter and photographer. Her art is used to create gorgeous personal and household products from her online galleries.

Find Her Online

Her Website: https://www.marydeal.com

Amazon Author Page: https://tinyurl.com/3z8pm31

Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/o7keqf7

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/mdeal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mary_Deal

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marydeal

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/105175192934570097998

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/MaryDeal

 

Her Art Galleries

 

Mary Deal Fine Art – https://www.marydealfineart.com

Island Image Gallery – https://www.islandimagegallery.com

Mary Deal Fine Art and Photography – https://www.facebook.com/MDealArt

LocalMe – https://www.redbubble.com/people/localme

Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/1deal

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~Mary Deal~

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#GuestBloggers – 5 Interesting Facts #BehindTheScenes of a #Psychological #Dystopian #Thriller

02 Wednesday May 2018

Posted by Morgan in Guest Bloggers on BnV

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Tags

Award Winning Books, BnV, BooknVolume, creative writing, Dystopian, Guest Blogging, Psychological Thriller, Sci-fi, Thriller, Writing

 5 interesting facts about psychological dystopian thriller The Phoenix Project by D.M. Cain

    • Most of The Phoenix Project was written by hand, whilst listening to music. I have shelves full of handwritten notebooks containing the first draft of The Phoenix Project. I always listen to epic, instrumental music when writing such as Two Steps from Hell and Immediate Music.       
  • The protagonist of The Phoenix Project, Raven Kennedy, is on a glorified death row within Salverford prison for the terrible crime he committed. In the original idea he was innocent and had been framed and that’s why he was in prison. (As soon as I began writing it, I realised it worked better if he was actually guilty!)
  • The horrifying ‘dark room’ in The Phoenix Project (a pitch-black sensory deprivation cell) was inspired by a visit to the Terror Haza in Budapest—a museum dedicated to the fascistic and communistic regimes that operated from the building. In the cellar of the Terror Haza are the old cells used to imprison and torture inmates. For research purposes, I crawled inside a very low cell and shut the door, casting myself into total darkness. It was terrifying and claustrophobic, and I only lasted five minutes in there, but it gave me an idea of what it would be like to be in one of those cells.

  • Raven Kennedy from The Phoenix Project actually started life as the same character as Vincent Wilder from A Chronicle of Chaos (even though Raven is a good guy and Vincent is the mega-villain of my Light and Shadow Chronicles series!). The first book I started to write had a character called Vincent (he wasn’t quite the same character as his later incarnation) and I developed his character in two ways – drawing upon his negative traits to create the later Vincent, and his redeeming characteristics to create Raven.
  • There is a scene in the book where Raven and a few other characters take part in a high-pressure televised interview. In order to prepare for this and make it seem natural, my husband and I acted it out and recorded the interview! I played Raven and my husband played the other characters, and I then played the tape (yes, tape!) back and used it to write the scene. I still have that tape in my collection of books etc!

The book is available to buy from Amazon:

http://mybook.to/thephoenixproject

 

D.M. Cain Biography

D.M. Cain is a dystopian and fantasy author working for Creativia Publishing. The Light and Shadow Chronicles series features a range of books which can be read in any order. The series instalments to date include A Chronicle of Chaos and The Shield of Soren. D.M. Cain is working on the next novel in the Light and Shadow Chronicles series, The Sins of Silas, as well as two complementary novellas entitled Genesis of Light and Origin of Shadow.

Cain has released one stand-alone novel: The Phoenix Project, a psychological thriller set in a dystopian future. The Phoenix Project was the winner of the 2016 Kindle Book Review Best Sci-Fi novel Award.

D.M. Cain is also a member of the International Thriller Writers and one of the creators and administrators of the online author group #Awethors. Her short story The End was published in Awethology Dark: an anthology by the #Awethors.

Cain lives in Leicestershire, UK with her husband and two young children, and spends her time reading, writing, reviewing and indulging in geek culture (Marvel, GoT, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Final Fantasy).

Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DMCainauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DMCain84

Amazon: Author.to/DMCain84

Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/XevZH

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/d-m-cain-809538a0/

Website: www.dmcain84.com

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DMCain/posts

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/DMCain

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/DMCain

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dmcain84/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d.m.cain/

Creativia: http://www.creativia.org/a-talented-new-arrival-among-british-fantasy-authors-dm-cain.html

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/d-m-cain

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~DM Cain~

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#GuestBloggers – The Ghost Killer Series by Margaret Millmore

01 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by Morgan in Guest Bloggers on BnV

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

BnV, BooknVolume, creative writing, Ghost Stories, Ghsots, Guest Authors, Guest Blogging, Supernatural, Writing

 There are ghosts and demons that wander among the living; they do not haunt in the traditional sense. Instead, they plague mankind with diseases and physical deformities, and once a ghost finds its victim it will haunt them for a lifetime. 

What Haunts Me (Ghost Killer Book 1)

A mild illness brought on the dreams, which triggered the suppressed memories, which in turn allowed George to see ghosts. Along with this new sight into a realm unknown to most, George also discovered he could kill the ghosts and save their victims, and his life changed from ordinary to extraordinary.

George’s confusion spurs him to call his father and inquire about these memories in the hope that he will give him a reasonable explanation. Instead his father is evasive and George suspects that he is lying—something he has never done, at least not to George. Although he still has no idea why this is happening to him, he accepts it, and by his own definition, he is a ghost killer.

His acceptance of this newfound ability becomes an obsession so powerful that he has little regard for the cause or the impossibility of it all, and that disregard is destroying his life and threatening his sanity. When his livelihood is endangered, George knows he must find out why this is happening to him. He seeks out a local paranormal expert, who briefly explains what a ghost killer is, tells him about a worldly organization called the “Watchers,” and warns him about a man, Frederick Vokkel, who has deep connections to the supernatural world, and seeks out powerful ghost killers in an effort to harness their abilities for nefarious purposes. Phil is vague, but promises to connect George with the Watchers so that he can learn more about what he has become and learn how to protect himself from his unknown enemies.

Soon after George’s meeting with Phil, he encounters Billy, a young woman with an unlikeable personality, who is the niece of his much loved grandmotherly neighbor, Justine. Through his new association with Billy, who is also a ghost killer, he discovers that there are different levels of ghosts and demons, varying from dangerous to extremely deadly, but there are also different levels of ghost killers, and George is of the most powerful.

He also discovers that his mother and Billy’s grandmother were connected; they too were powerful ghost killers. George’s mother and Billy’s grandmother, met at a school in Switzerland, a school run by none other than Frederick Vokkel. George is frustrated and confused; the coincidences are piling up and he can’t help but wonder if his decision to move to San Francisco and subsequently become Justine’s neighbor was somehow directed by the hand of fate or destiny. One thing he does know: Justine and perhaps even his father knew what he was, and until Billy’s arrival, both had kept it from him, leaving George feeling betrayed.

With the help of Phil and Billy, George is introduced to Aris, a high-ranking member of the Watchers. Aris explains George’s ancestry—he comes from a long line of powerful ghost killers, some of the most powerful ever—and like him, Billy shares a similar heritage. Aris also warns George that Frederick Vokkel has learned about a previously unknown powerful ghost killer, one that is capable of prolonging Vokkel’s life, but can also merge a powerful demon back into a human, giving the monster renewed physical form. And Aris believes that George is that ghost killer.

When Vokkel’s efforts to sway George into a meeting fail, he resorts to kidnapping George’s father, but he also uses his connections with the demons to summon a surge of ghosts that will descend on the city and cause the rapid deaths of hundreds of people. George has no choice but to do as Vokkel asks or risk not only his father’s death, but the loss of many innocent lives.

He teams up with Aris, Phil, Billy and several other ghost killers to devise a plan that will save not only his father, but also prevent the surge of ghosts from causing irreparable harm.

The Edge of the Cemetery (Ghost Killer Book 2) 

 

George has embraced his life as a ghost killer and now works alongside his new friends, Billy Wilkinson and Phil James. Together they assist the Watchers in an ongoing battle to maintain the balance between the living and the dead.

When San Francisco and the surrounding area are suddenly plagued by rogue groups of ghosts and demons, who appeared to have a leader of sorts, a seventeenth century musketeer demon, the Watchers know it isn’t random, nor was it the usual form in which ghosts and demons prefer to haunt. These monsters were also possessing their victims and forcing them to hurt others, and once the ghost killers arrived, the demons directed their human weapons on them. The question was, who was this musketeer demon and why was he directing these attacks?

As George, Billy, Phil and the Watchers investigate, they discover the seventeenth century demon is teamed up with a teenage boy, who they come to realize is a powerful ghost killer himself and more importantly, they believe he is being controlled by the demon. Their search for the teenager and his demon lead them to the discovery of an enemy from their past and a mysterious prophecy. As they decipher the true meaning of the prophecy, they uncover a plot for murderous revenge involving a secret vault containing numerous malevolent souls and a plan to return those wicked dead to human form as directed by Satan himself. Unfortunately, they also discover the true purpose of the demon musketeer’s involvement, which is to become one with the powerful teenage ghost killer, creating a monster that cannot be defeated. With the clock ticking against them, they must find the vault and destroy it before it can be opened and kill the demon and his teenage host.

What Haunts Me (Ghost Killer Book 1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GSE7E7S/

The Edge of the Cemetery (Ghost Killer Book 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GSE7E7S/

What Hunts Me (Ghost Killer – Book 3)

The year was 1915, Alexander Graham Bell completed the first transcontinental telephone call between New York City and San Francisco, the Ford Model-T and silent motion pictures were all the rage. Raggedy Ann, aspirin in tablet form and processed cheese, as well as the milk carton were invented. America was steadily growing in population and that population was on the move. In San Francisco, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition opened in February, an event that introduced many wonders to the United States and the world at large. The Lincoln Highway (also known as Highway 30) opened as America’s first transcontinental automobile road. In the small town of Houtzdale, Pennsylvania, a train pulled into the station with ten people on board…all but three were dead.

A hundred years later, in the attic of the large Edwardian house in San Francisco owned by the Watchers, a box is discovered, containing various documents from ghost killers dating back more than ninety years. Among those missives are letters, some photographs, and a diary dated in 1915, belonging to eighteen year old George Sinclair of Houtzdale, Pennsylvania. The letters chronicle an epic journey from Pennsylvania to San Francisco along the route of the newly opened Lincoln Highway. However, the diary also indicates something more sinister might have transpired. It contains strange drawings and nonsensical writings, but the final entry is loud and clear; George is a ghost killer and he is being hunted. Equally important, there was a good chance that 1915 George might be the key to modern-day ghost killer, George Sinclair’s, unknown paternal heritage.

George, with the help of his good friend Phil James, travels to Houtzdale, PA in search of more information on the man who bears his name, and just might be his great-grandfather. Their investigation leads them to 1915 George’s last remaining relative, only to discover she had died recently, and circumstances indicate supernatural forces were involved. As they delve deeper, they learn about a deadly 1915 train incident. Its survivors consisted of two passengers and the engineer, and although none of them could recall what transpired, the engineer was believed to be the killer and his guilt was so immense, he took his own life. The weeks and months that followed were wrought with tragedy for the small town, and illness and disease plagued the citizenry—Houtzdale was being haunted, and 1915 George Sinclair could see these ghosts and demons, and he could kill them. But more importantly, he knew who and what unleashed them—the two remaining train survivors, monsters capable of commanding the ghouls, and with great pleasure they used them to torment the sleepy Pennsylvania town. George had no choice but to kill the two survivors before they could continue their murderous rampage. He hunted one down, killed and buried it, then chased the other west, via the Lincoln Highway, and dealt him the same fate; or so he thought.

As George and Phil investigate further they discover someone else is looking into the events that took place in 1915, and more specifically young George Sinclair. They soon discover that someone is a dead ringer for one of the 1915 train survivors, who young George had admitted to killing and burying. If this person is the monster 1915 George believed him to be, Phil and George need to find him fast. Their only clues as to where and what this resurrected being wanted were in the letters and diary. George and Phil determine the monster is tracing his great-grandfather’s path west, via the Lincoln Highway, in search of his partner, who he believes 1915 George also killed and buried somewhere along the way. With each town mentioned in the letters (and visited by the monster), Phil and George discover droves of ghosts and demons, who have been tormenting these locals for a century.

When Phil is called home, Billy joins George to continue the hunt, and they find themselves embroiled in a hundred year old mystery, which grows beyond a reanimated monstrous creature. Mysterious supernatural forces are in play, and the discovery of very dangerous stones and an even more dangerous artifact propel the ghost killers into a fight for their lives.

What Haunts Me – Ghost Killer Book 1: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B019EAN2K6/

The Edge of the Cemetery – Ghost Killer Book 2: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GSE7E7S/

What Hunts Me – Ghost Killer Book 3 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BK73XDV/

Margaret Millmore lives on a quaint island in the Puget Sound, Washington with her husband and two cantankerous alarm clocks (better known as cats, who are apparently starving to death at 5 a.m. every single darn morning…).

Her first published works were flash fiction, which were featured on Bay Area artist, Kenny Mencher’s blog, The Welcome Home and Untitled – Luke N. Goode.

In 2011 she published her first full length novel, since then she’s published a three book series, another novel and her current series (via Creativia Publishing) What Haunts Me (Ghost Killer Book 1) and The Edge of the Cemetery (Ghost Killer Book 2), which was awarded the August 2016 Book of the Month award by Long and Short Reviews, and What Hunts Me (Ghost Killer Book 3), which incorporates an epic journey taken by her grandfather in 1915. The majority of her books are set in San Francisco where she lived—previous to island life—for over 26 years.

Margaret’s preferred writing genre is supernatural fiction, with the exception of her time-travel novel, The Dragonfly Door.

http://www.margaretmillmore.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Millmore/e/B005ME8QTQ

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Margaret-A-Millmore/228435017205214

Tweets by MMillmore

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5157106.Margaret_A_Millmore

http://author.to/MargaretMillmore

http://www.creativia.org/from-voracious-reader-to-successful-indie-author-california-author-margaret-millmore.html

 

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~Margaret Millmore~

 

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#GuestBloggers – Post-Grad Depression…Wait, that’s a Thing?

30 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by Morgan in Guest Bloggers on BnV

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Authors, BnV, BooknVolume, Change, creative writing, depression, Guest Blogger, Indie Authors, Inspiration, Writers, ~Morgan~

Hi! I am really excited to be guest writing for Morgan’s blog! I am nowhere near as talented as she is but I thought I would share a piece that is already currently on my blog and something that I have been dealing with recently.

A little about me, my name is Amberlyn and my blog is called Lovely Dysfunction. I cover a little bit of everything over there. From hikes, to mental health, to makeup; I cover it all! I’m not the best writer but I feel like I get a little better with each post. I just moved from Georgia to Colorado for a new career in Marketing and that transition has definitely thrown me through a loop. The short essay below is about what I have been going through recently. If it resonates with you at all, please let me know. Thanks!

Post-Grad Depression…wait, that’s a thing?

A modernly renovated and beautifully decorated 2 bedroom apartment. It’s not the penthouse but spacious and affordable. It’s in the perfect location where I can walk to my favorite cafe and I’m only a block away from the subway stop. My job is so much fun, I am pretty damn good at it, and I get paid more than the average fresh graduate. I have loads of open-minded new friends and even an attractive and friendly stranger who I encountered at a bookstore one weekend that may be interested. I have started working out more and getting healthy. Life is beautiful and I am happy.

That is how I envisioned post-grad life for the entirety of my senior year. It’s probably one of the sole things that kept me motivated and marching toward that cap and gown. Don’t get me wrong, post-grad life is wonderful for many reasons but my vision was also terribly misleading.

At first, I was too busy to notice it. My parents were helping me unpack, I was meeting my coworkers, starting my initial work training, decorating my apartment, and so on. Then my Dad left and I felt a twinge of something, but I sucked it up and moved on. I am an adult now, right? My mom stayed a little longer. We are both control freaks so we butted heads quite a bit in that time period. To the point, that I found myself counting down the days until her departure. Then she left. I was fine for about a week. Drunk with new-found freedom that was literally like nothing I had ever experienced. I was self-sufficient, in a state hundreds of miles away from home, in my OWN apartment with an amazing job.

However, I had a ton of time by myself. I have my dog, who I am incredibly thankful for, but I had no one to talk to when I got home. This was especially damaging after a bad day. Yes, I could have called someone and I did some days but I slowly stopped this practice. It was easier to direct my energy to self-loathing and hiding in my bed than calling my mom. I was beating myself up over the smallest mistakes and overanalyzing every critique my manager gave me. I was miserable.

On top of this, all my closest friends were still in college, living happily in the comfortable bubble that I had left behind. They would send photos to me of them hanging out together and it would hurt because I knew I had no one like that in my new home…and because I missed them, obviously.

I went from being an extremely motivated individual to one who didn’t even want to get out of bed in the morning to go to work. I went from being so excited to hike every inch of Colorado to deciding to stay in and watch YouTube videos.

I feel bad even writing about this because I am incredibly blessed. I was blessed with the opportunity to go to and graduate college, I am blessed with a well-paid job with what I consider to be a very caring company. I have an apartment that fits my needs, and I have a family and friends that keep in touch despite our distance. However, I still feel sad. Some days are better than others and some days are really, really bad. Leaving the bubble of school and the world you create there is difficult. I’m sure some struggle with it more than I do and I am sure some people don’t struggle at all. I thought it would be a breeze. I thought I had it all figured out.

There are several reasons I think post-grad depression is a thing:

  • Leaving your comfort zone

Most of us have been in school for 17 years (+-). School is what we are good at; it’s what we know how to do. Leaving that comfort zone filled with friends, a routine, and a purpose is hard. 

  • College is about personal development, the real world often isn’t

In school, we have a definite purpose. No matter how miserable that one professor is you know it’s temporary and you are doing it to ultimately make yourself a better human. After college, most of what you do is to better your employer. You may be inadvertently bettering yourself but that’s often not your main purpose in your day-to-day life unless you make time for it.

  • Dealing with adult things

Let me tell you, electing my benefits was one of the most stressful things I have done. I understand how incredibly blessed I am to be offered benefits but the amount of money that leaves my paycheck every other week should be criminal. In addition to benefits, I have had to deal with taxes, apartment hunting, driving a U-Haul 1600 miles, appliances breaking, emergency vet trips, credit bureau security breaches, and bills on bills on BILLS.

  • Life not aligned with passions

College was a pain in my butt at times but a lot of it was focused on learning about topics I enjoyed. In fact, college is really about what you want. While my job is in marketing, my major, I can admit it isn’t the type of marketing I ever really wanted to do. There are other positions in the company that align better with my passions but I’m not there yet. I am here. It’s hard waking up to do something every day that you may not necessarily love but I am smart enough to understand that not everyone gets their dream job straight out of the gate and I am willing to work hard to get there one day.

I still deal with this ‘depression’ every day. A lot of this post was written in past tense but it’s still very much an issue. This post wasn’t meant to discourage any current college students. I love being independent and not having to worry about finals or buying books. However, I do wish someone had warned me. I don’t know if there is really a way to prepare but take it as reassurance.

Post-grad life may not be everything you dreamed it to be, but life is about adjusting and overcoming and you will.

I will.

Thanks for reading!

Link to my blog: https://lovelydysfunction.wordpress.com

Link to my ‘About me’ page: https://lovelydysfunction.wordpress.com/about/

Link to this post: https://lovelydysfunction.wordpress.com/2017/10/20/post-grad-depression-wait-thats-a-thing/

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~Amberlyn ~

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#GuestBlogger – River Boners – Checking for Typos!

28 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by Morgan in Guest Bloggers on BnV

≈ 3 Comments

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BnV, BooknVolume, creative writing, Guest Blogger, Guest Posts, Humor, Proofreading, Writers, Writing Tips, ~Morgan~

River Boners- The need to check for typos.

I sent a query letter for one of my short stories to a magazine. Of course, I included the names of my novels in my brief Bio. The New York editor actually called all the way to Hawaii (where I lived at the time) and thanked me for the best typo she’d ever seen!

A couple years ago, I began taking nutritional supplements that have done wonders for my health. Even my fingernails, which normally never grew but flaked instead, now extend a quarter inch past my fingertips. It’s a great sign that the nutritionals help in many ways.

However, my long fingernails now interfere with being able to use the keyboard at warp speed. I press a key with the fingertip, or the side of my fingertip, but the nail depresses the key next to it. As a result, I had to scrutinize my work for typos that never happened before. I’ve kept my nails shorter since then because of that one error in particular that I’ve probably made more than once.

Notice that on the keyboard, the letters e and r are next to each other. When I pressed the e, I also accidentally typed the r with my new fingernail.

The editor called to say that when typing the name of my novel, River Bones, I inadvertently created a typo and wrote River Boners.

So, how have your typos embarrassed you?

Mary Deal, a native of Walnut Grove in California’s Sacramento River Delta, now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. She was Founder and past President of Kauai Writer’s Roundtable. She is also an artist, photographer and former editor of a print magazine and newspaper columnist.

She is the author of “Legacy of the Tropics,” an adventure trilogy taking place in both the Caribbean and Hawaii, “The Ka,” a paranormal Egyptian suspense, “River Bones – Sara Mason Mysteries Book One,” a thriller that takes place in her childhood hometown area, “Down to the Needle,” a thriller, taking place along the West coast,  and “The Howling Cliffs, Sara Mason Mysteries Book Two,” taking place in the Vietnam jungle and on Kauai in Hawaii. She has also published “Off Center in the Attic,” a collection of over-the-top short stories and flash fiction pieces. “Write It Right – Tips for Authors – The Big Book” is a mega-volume of writing instruction. “Hypno-Scripts – Life Changing Techniques Using Self-Hypnosis and Meditation” is another self-help nonfiction.

River Bones was a Honorable Mention in the Eric Hoffer Book Awards competition and a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Books Awards (NIEA). The Howling Cliffs won a Bronze in the Global eBook awards. Write It Right-Tips for Authors was a Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards (NIEA). Hypno-Scripts was a Finalist in both the International Book Awards and the National Indie Excellence Book Awards (NIEA), as well as winning Silver in the Global eBook Awards. Down to the Needle won a Bronze in the Global eBook Awards. Her flash fiction short story, “The Last This I Do” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her first feature screenplay, Sea Storm, was a Finalist in the Moondance International Film Festival.

Find Her Online

Her Website: https://www.marydeal.com

Amazon Author Page: https://tinyurl.com/3z8pm31

Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/o7keqf7

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/mdeal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mary_Deal

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marydeal

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/105175192934570097998

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/MaryDeal

 

Her Art Galleries

 

Mary Deal Fine Art – https://www.marydealfineart.com

Island Image Gallery – https://www.islandimagegallery.com

Mary Deal Fine Art and Photography – https://www.facebook.com/MDealArt

LocalMe – https://www.redbubble.com/people/localme

Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/1deal

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~Mary Deal ~

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#GuestBlogger – Lisa Lowell – One Writer’s Inspiration

28 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by Morgan in Guest Bloggers on BnV

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BnV, BooknVolume, creative writing, Dragons, Fantasy, Guest Blogger, Guest Posts, Writers, Writing Prompt, ~Morgan~

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One Writer’s Inspiration by Lisa Lowell

So often the first question, after people discover I’m a writer, is ‘Where do you get your ideas?’  I love this question because it allows me to stretch my muse beyond the limitations of an elevator pitch most people want when they ask ‘What’s your book about?’, a query I deplore.  So, where does the flow originate?

Perhaps I am an alien in this aspect, but my simple reply is The Universe.

Sometimes I’ve written scenes based on a pink elm leaf drifting in a rain puddle, a few repetitive notes on a piano, a long drive home at night in the rain and even a rediscovered screwdriver tangled up in the spaghetti of wiring behind my computer desk.  One song, Lindsey Sterling’s Crystalize, practically drove a relationship between two characters in my book Heart Stone.   Those few flashes of experience fit into some orphan scene on which I am meditating at the time, and the magic is done.

Then there are the characters.  I never base my characters on individuals I’ve met or know.  It’s unusual in the writing community perhaps, but I cannot even give you a specific person who has inspired any of them.  The characters are an amalgam of me, how I want to be or at the least how I perceive myself.  Owailion is the practicality and ruthless pragmatism I can’t seem to break in myself.  Somewhere inside I harbor Raimi’s pitiful self-esteem, thinking she will ruin everything she touches, and I have the withered computers and cell phones to witness that.  Vamilion’s wretched patience is what keeps me going to face rooms full of thirteen-year-olds every day and tending a Parkinson’s patient every night.  Perhaps I just wish I had Honiea’s gifts.  All my characters are, unfortunately, uniquely, a slice of me.

But how do you get your ideas, they wail.  Simply put, from God.  I know my writing is a gift and I do not use it I will be held accountable.  So, I write.  The ideas come in dreams, in twists in my own life, or in curious, ‘I wonder what would happen if…’ moments.  I just recently finished a sci-fi/dystopian novel sparked by a friend living in Denver.  She came here to Oregon a few years ago and never got to the ocean.  I wrote a book to take the ocean to her.  Poof, an entire book where the world is flooded and Denver is a coastal city.  The Wise Ones series started as a drawing by Andre’ Norton in her Gryphon books.  I drew the castle in the illustration and then wondered who would live in such a masonry confection.  I found her in Tiamat, the Sea Queen.  When I wrote that story of how a mousy little girl could become a queen worthy of that scenery, through her trials, I had the makings of an entire nine-book series.

It was serendipity at its best.  So, you see, I could never squeeze the universe into an elevator pitch.  Thank you for listening to a slightly longer version.

Bio – Lisa Lowell has been writing for most of her life, focusing mostly on historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction, anywhere anything is possible.  She has three children and lives with her husband Pat in Oregon.  She teaches middle-school English because she has a masochistic streak that led her into being an author in the summer.

 

https://www.facebook.com/vikingauthor/

www.magicintheland.com

http://mybook.to/Talismans

http://mybook.to/LeyLines

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Dragon Image:  Imzuli in White by Paula Litchfield

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#GuestBlogger #Author Mary Deal Shares some #WritingTips!

22 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by Morgan in Guest Bloggers on BnV

≈ 2 Comments

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Authors, BnV, BooknVolume, creative writing, Editing Tips, Guest Blogger, Mary Deal, Writers, Writing Tips, ~Morgan~

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Explanatory articles covering myriad intrinsic details such as these related to writing are included in my self-help volume, Write It Right – Tips For Authors – The Big Book. The Amazon URL: https://tinyurl.com/yanfjdeh

The Letter S

Drop the letter s. If you believe that one letter couldn’t possibly cause you to receive a rejection, I encourage you to think again, especially if the same mistake recurs throughout your manuscript.

Incorrect usage comes from the lax attitude about our English language. Most people speak in jargon or a brogue that comes from a certain locale. I call it family hand-me-down language.  Truth is, no matter from where you hail, your written grammar must be correct for the broader reading audience.

I’m speaking of the letter s. Check out these sentences:

She ran towards the garage.

The ball rolled backwards.

Look upwards.

These sentences are all incorrect. That is, the use of the letter s is incorrect.

The letter s denotes something plural. In the first sentence, moving toward something means you can only go in one direction. Toward.

If the ball rolled backward, it can only go in one direction. Backward.

To look upward, you can only look in one direction. Upward.

Not surprising, an example of an exception is:

She leaned sideways.

The rule here is that when leaning, you can lean sideways in more than one direction, therefore the use of the letter s.

You’ll find many other words that are incorrectly used with s endings. When you find these, make note of them, maybe a running list. You’ll have the list to refer back to when you question your own writing.

This is but one of the finite idiosyncrasies of producing better grammar when writing stories and books that you hope to sell. Study your own language and speech.

Watch how the s is used or omitted in books that you love to read.

Get into the habit of listening to the speech patterns of others. Think critically of what you hear, but never criticize of a person who speaks that way. Instead, mentally analyze what you have heard. Learn the right from the wrong of speech and your writing will reflect your knowledge.

Those S and ES Endings

These endings have always troubled me until I finally decided to get it right. Compare the versions and pick out the correct usages in this name ending with the letter s.

The Joneses came for dinner.

The Jones’s came for dinner.

The Jones came for dinner.

 

John Joneses car stalled.

John Jones car stalled.

John Jones’s car stalled.

 

That Jones’s girl.

That Joneses girl.

That Jones girl.

 

The correct sentences are:

 

The Joneses came for dinner.

John Jones’s car stalled.

That Jones girl.

Some tips:

When a name ends with an s, and when speaking of the family as a group, add es, as in Joneses.

When speaking about something John Jones owned, it is his property and, therefore, an apostrophe and s shows ownership, as in Jones’s.

When speaking about a person in the singular, use only the name Jones.

However, when speaking about a group of girls all named Jones, you would write that sentence: The Jones girls. Notice that the name stays the same but the s is added to the word girl, stating more than one exists with that name.

MY BIO

Mary Deal is an award-winning author of suspense/thrillers, a short story collection, writers’ references, and self-help. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, Artist and Photographer, and former newspaper columnist and magazine editor. She is currently writing the third story in her Sara Mason Mystery Series, and a romance novel is now being published, which is a new genre for her. Other books coming soon will include her first poetry book and a second collection of more of her short stories.

She has traveled a great deal and has a lifetime of diverse experiences, all of which remain in memory as fodder for her fiction. A native of California’s Sacramento River Delta, where some of her stories are set, she has also lived in England, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is also an oil painter and photographer. Her art is used to create gorgeous personal and household products from her online galleries.

Find Her Online

Her Website: https://www.marydeal.com

Amazon Author Page: https://tinyurl.com/3z8pm31

Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/o7keqf7

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/mdeal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mary_Deal

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marydeal

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/105175192934570097998

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/MaryDeal

Her Art Galleries

Mary Deal Fine Art: https://www.marydealfineart.com

Island Image Gallery: https://www.islandimagegallery.com

Mary Deal Fine Art and Photography: https://www.facebook.com/MDealArt

LocalMe: https://www.redbubble.com/people/localme

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/1deal

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~Mary Deal~

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Penniless Hearts – #GuestBlogger Eve Gaal

21 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by Morgan in Guest Bloggers on BnV

≈ 4 Comments

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Authors, BnV, BooknVolume, creative writing, Guest Blogger, Indie Authors, Love, romance Books, Writers, ~Morgan~

April 18-2018- Thanks Cynthia for having me on your blog.

The unique thing about Penniless Hearts is that it’s hard to categorize my book’s genre as a typical romance, adventure or mystery. I’ve been told it’s humorous. Though funny in parts, it’s not slapstick funny all the way through. Some reviews call it screw-ball comedy. Some call it a beach read. I think of it as a fictional tapestry of good versus evil. Short vignettes interspersed with mild doses of pain, coming together with an emotional climax. I honestly planned the plot holes because I wanted the reader to infer my meaning, without bogging them down with too many boring details. No one ever told me the book was dull. Of course, I think it’s unique, but will you? Our publisher knows how to keep our group interesting and diverse. I’ve read several books by Creativia authors and find them fascinating. So many interesting characters!

Twists

Like everything truly enjoyable, there must be a twist. Like chocolate-twisted brioche, the more twists the better. Penniless Hearts is filled with short, seemingly unconnected chapters. Nowadays some readers have OCD or fashionably diminutive attention spans. Not you, of course. There’s also the rampant problem called limited time. Both conditions are spreading like wildfire.

One of my favorite humor writers says:

The greatest sin for a writer is to be boring- Carl Hiaasen

Even reading the book reviews can be entertaining—well they are to me anyway. The main theme is about a journey. Penny, my main character is going to Hawaii. That’s when trouble begins. In our modern, interconnected, wireless world, if you don’t charge your cell phone and lose your ATM card, strange things can keep you separated from those you love. Do you enjoy adventures that take you on a vacation somewhere?

Love

But Penny’s not sure about love. In fact, in the beginning of the book she’s pretty much relegated love to her fantasies. And like many cynical, would be lovers, true love is a make-believe creation that rides around on a white stallion and looks impossible to find.

Fortunately, in my personal life, I met a Prince from my imagination in the early nineties. No white stallion–just a beat up old, red truck and some pre-teen kids. We were married in Hawaii and it was dreamy enough to call us back to the islands for our first anniversary where the luster of our honeymoon looked different. Those cracks in the veneer of hospitality gave me a glimpse into what would someday help with the setting of Penniless Hearts. And though our love blossomed, and my daily newspaper position kept me busy, there were dramatic issues involving our stepchildren. Horrific issues. That kept me awake at night, while also providing fodder for my novel.

A Real Heroine

Finally, I left the paper and moved from Murrieta to the desert town of La Quinta, where I had time to write. Maybe I could inspire others to find true love? I had four reasons to write Penniless Hearts: First, I wanted my siblings to find spouses and thought that perhaps a sister’s words could prove there is hope at the end of the dating tunnel. Second, I wanted to indirectly thank the graphic artists who had worked hard to please me in the newspaper business. I also wanted to bring awareness to the endangered sea turtles of Hawaii. Lastly, I needed a main female character who could overcome, overachieve and triumph when facing the unthinkable. A true heroine.

Bestselling author Marilyn Collier said this about my character Penny:

“This is a wild escape fiction for someone that wants to laugh, root for or want to shake the heroine.”

Research

Those two trips to the islands, the internet, used books, old maps and travel articles rounded out my research. After watching hours of videotaped volcanic eruptions and online helicopter flights, all I needed was the tranquility of the desert to write Penniless Hearts. The added benefit is that after watching all those videos I can fly a helicopter and dodge flowing lava at a moments notice. Yeah sure, I’m kidding.

If you read Penniless Hearts and enjoy it, please write me a note or post a review to tell me all about it.

Bestselling author Norma Beishir wrote:

“Penniless Hearts is one of the best novels I’ve read in a very long time.”

New & Fresh

We have returned to the area we lived in before we moved to the arid desert. I live in a semi-rural place called Wildomar. It’s interesting to find out historic Wildomar has been around for a very long time. While I live in a commuter-styled, suburban home, there are bucolic ranch homes with horses nearby. Unlike the desert where we had to drive five miles for a loaf of bread, we can walk less than a mile for everything. We can even drive a short distance to a dairy for fresh milk! Plus, the climate is perfect.

Anyway, I have almost finished writing the romantic sequel to Penniless Hearts. It’s called Penniless Souls and I’m still polishing it up. It’s a tad darker, and though I can’t say the subject is light and lively, Penny gets caught up in all sorts of adventure and heartache, but this time in Vegas, instead of Hawaii. The only thing keeping her sane, is the thought that life is a game of chance. But is it?

Watch for Penniless Souls soon.

~Eve Gaal~

I really enjoyed visiting. Thanks again for this opportunity. Please stop by my blog if you have a chance at http://evegaal.blogspot.com

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#GuestBlog on #BnV

18 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by Morgan in Guest Bloggers on BnV

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

BnV, BooknVolume, creative writing, Guest Blogger, Guest Posts, Open Blog Weekend, Poetry Blog, Writers, Writing Invitation, Writing Prompt, ~Morgan~

author

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Hello fellow writers 🙂
 
I am looking for a few Guest Bloggers for my blog for the next few weeks as I undertake moving, learning a new job, and settling into a new life 🙂 
First and most importantly to me is that Booknvolume is a PG-13 Blog, so any posts, poems, photographs, etc., must pass that guideline, Please.  You are free to choose whatever topic you find appealing and you may share anything from poetry to flash fiction, short stories, artwork, photography, recipes, Inspirational Quotes, Spirituality, Book Reviews, Author Interviews, Character Sketches….in other words, I’m not going to restrict you as long as you follow the PG-13 Golden Rule.  🙂

Secondly, You will write the post, provide any links, photos w/ appropriate credit, your brief bio and author page, and I will schedule it for sometime within the next 2-3 weeks. I will give you the link for the post once it’s scheduled, which you will be able to access and share when it goes ‘live’. 

Thank you in advance for your support and assistance during this marvelous change in my life 🙂 ❤

And Thank You  for your interest in adding YOUR Voice to Booknvolume.   I look forward to sharing your talent with my readers and Very Much Appreciate your willingness to Help a fellow writer in need.

~Blessings~

~Morgan~

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The voice crying out in the wilderness….

09 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by pastorshawnlarue in Guest Bloggers on BnV, Poetry

≈ 1 Comment

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blog, Blogging, Books, christianity, Faith, Family, Humanity, Inspiration, life, Reflections, relationships, Religion, Thoughts, Truth, WordPress

Forgotten Meadows
sweet-wonder
Transitory time

 

Today we find ourselves in the second week of Advent, this time of waiting and anticipation of Christ’s return.  A time to reflect on our own lives and prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

The scripture from the beginning of Mark’s gospel is titled, “The Proclamation of John the Baptist.”  Mark’s gospel is the shortest of the four gospels, it is direct, it is to the point and each verse is filled with meaning and purpose.

Mark is direct enough that he skips the nativity and baby Jesus account and immediately begins with the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Mark begins his gospel and account of Christ by going back in time.

Mark goes back about 600-700 years to the time of Isaiah.  From the Old Testament account of Isaiah he quotes, “A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

Make straight your paths, for the promised one is coming.  In Isaiah’s day he spoke to a Jewish audience that had been exiled.  In Mark’s account he talking about Christ and the messenger preparing the way for him.

Mark writes, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:  ‘Prepare the way of the Lord.’

In this painfully hectic time between holidays, how much time are we spending preparing our hearts, souls and minds to meet and be present with our God?  This time of year we don’t celebrate credit card debt or empty bank accounts.  We don’t celebrate added inches to our waistline. 

No, we celebrate the birth of our God.  The mystery of the incarnation and the insane lengths our God went to, to reconcile us to him.  To bring us closer to him.

In preparing for this sermon I read about and questioned why our God would need someone to prepare the way for him.  Why would an all-present and all-powerful God need a man dressed in strange clothes – camel’s hair, and who ate weird things (locusts and honey) to prepare the way for him?

Is it because we all stand on the shoulders and accomplishments of those that have gone before us?  We all stand on the ground that was prepared for us by others.  All the hard work of our ancestors and their desire to see their children succeed have benefitted each of us. 

Unfortunately, these bodies and minds of flesh that have short memories and are inclined to take credit for what has been accomplished. 

Even our God, who emptied himself of all his divinity, needed someone to prepare the way for him.  An all-present and all-powerful God would rely on a mere mortal to be the voice crying out in the wilderness.

Why would God need someone to prepare the way for him?  And why would he pick a strange looking and acting guy to be that person?

….It would take someone with far more knowledge than I to fully answer that question.  I think it has to do with the humility of our God.  We celebrate, honor and worship a God that gave up the splendor and glory of heaven, all that beauty to come to this world riddled with sickness, disease, war, famine, acts of evil and death.

I think that I would rather look at that from a distance and bask in the beauty of heaven.  But not our God.  He saw the terrible consequence that sin caused and he decided that something had to be done about it. 

He traded his mansion for a mud hut, he traded power for humility and splendor for suffering.  He sent his messenger, John the Baptist, before him.  John appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

In spite of his strange appearance people flocked to listen to him and to be baptized by him in the Jordan River.  “Make straight your paths, prepare the way of the Lord.”

People came from the Judean countryside and from Jerusalem to see, hear and be baptized by John the Baptist.  He had his own disciples and was popular enough or posed enough of a threat that even the Pharisees came to see what all the commotion was about.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near, make straight your path, prepare the way for the Lord…….Repent……confess……..understand your own brokenness before your God……..ask for forgiveness for the kingdom of heaven has come near…….

What if each of us in our own way is John the Baptist?  We may not go out into the timber or near the closest river and cry out or wear strange clothes, but what if each of us as we commit and recommit to our faith every day is living like John the Baptist?

Every time we commit to be read our bibles, to pray, to be a part of a small group, to do something for someone else, every time we chose to be intentional about our faith that we straighten our own path and influence those close to us.

Lives of faith can scream and proclaim the gospel without speaking a single word.  Proclaim the gospel always said St. Francis, use words only when necessary.

People went to John the Baptist to repent of their sins and to be baptized.  In his humility, John proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.  I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

John the Baptist knew his mission was to prepare the way for the one that is coming, one far more powerful than he.

We have also been made aware that one that Christ, is going to return.  Are we preparing the way for his arrival……

Are we proclaiming the good news of God’s action and arrival in this world, the coming of God’s kingdom, his ministry, death and resurrection?

As we celebrate and honor the second Sunday of Advent, let us remember all of those that have gone before us.  Let us remember the spiritual giants in our own lives and Mark’s gospel does recalling the words of Isaiah.

Let us live bold, courageous lives of faith that speak to this world and those in it who we are and what we are about.  In this painfully busy time of year, let us slow down and take time to reflect on what is truly important and why we celebrate with gifts, good food and precious time spend with family and friends.

Let us go with the knowledge and the truth that our God is coming back to this earth.  It may not be in our lifetime, but he is coming back.  If we don’t see him in the time each of us has left, that is no reason or excuse to be convenient or flippant about your faith.

Let us be about the work of the one that created all that is good and holy.  Let us be about the work of a God that became the word incarnate.  A penniless, nomadic preacher that come to save the souls of many.

 

Pastor Shawn LaRue, Seymour UMC
Author of Incomplete

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The parable of the talents….

18 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by pastorshawnlarue in Authors Books Reviews & Interviews, Guest Bloggers on BnV, Poetry

≈ 6 Comments

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Forgotten Meadows
Thunder
54ebd6b2ed4be_-_path3

We are closing in the on the holidays already which doesn’t seem possible.  Soon we will be in the season of Advent in the church, a season of waiting and anticipation of Christ’s return. 

Like last week’s scripture, today’s scripture is about what we do while we wait for Christ’s return.  Today’s scripture is titled, “The Parable of the Talents.”

At this point in Matthew’s gospel Christ is in his final days.  He has returned to Jerusalem for the last time.  His final parables in Matthew’s account are about what we are to be doing while waiting for his return.

“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.

 A talent was a measure of weight in biblical times.  The master of the estate was incredibly wealthy.  A talent is about 75 pounds of precious metal.  75 pounds.  An ounce of gold today is worth around $1,300. 

If you do the math a talent or 75 pounds of gold today is worth around $1.5 million dollars.  That is one talent, the first servant got five and the second servant got two. 

What does scripture say that the master of the estate did after giving this large amount of money to his servants…….He went away.  He didn’t give them any instructions.  He just gave it to them.  It seems apparent that he trusts them to be wise with it.

Helluva nice guy isn’t he.  What if I were to tell you that the master in this parable is Christ, he left but not before giving a bounty to his people?  What if I told you that the servants in this parable were you and I? 

That we have been given a treasure or a talent in the form of intellect, knowledge, life experience, talent, time, our ability to earn and a ton of his grace to boot?

And what if I told you that someday we will have to account for what we did with our God-given talent?  I will come back to that.

The master of the estate, he just left.  No directions, no instructions.  The servants were free to do what they would with what they were entrusted with, much like we are.  I want to talk about this for a minute.

Our God, the God that we serve limits himself in this parable and he does this often.  He limits himself so that others have an opportunity to lead and flourish. 

Christ, being of the same spiritual substance of The Father, came to this earth in the same limited manner that we exist, in flesh and blood.  Bound by time and space among other things. 

He limited himself as a penniless, itinerant carpenter turned preacher who emptied himself of his divinity to take on our broken condition.  He goes beyond limiting himself, he completely emptied himself.

He lived like the poorest of the poor with the poorest of the poor and spent his time with the lowest of the low.  Now, Christ did heal people, he performed miracles, he brought people that were dead back to life. 

But he lives his time on this earth consistently restrained.  And why would he do that………Is it because he hands the keys to the kingdom over to us, to each one of us?  That he wants each one of us to be about his work.

Is it because we are in his final days in the book of Matthew and he is making sure to make his point that he is leaving and these are the expectations for those who profess to know him?

God calls us to lead in one form or another.  Leadership isn’t about titles, we are called to lead our families, our church, our community, our school and many other things.

We weren’t made to sit on the sidelines idly watching the world go by.  Here is another window into my cynical and twisted mind.  In my experience in different leadership positions those that sat idly by, not only did they not help, they consistently attacked, smeared and hurled insults at the ones trying to get things done. 

Enough of that.  We are called to lives of service.  He are called to lead, we are called to be in ministry and we are called to be the light in this world.  We don’t retire from Christian service.  As long as there is air in our lungs we are called to be of service to the church.

After leaving his servants to do what they would with his money, the master returned.  “The one who had received the five talents had gone off and traded and made five more talents.”  He had doubled his master’s money.

“In the same way, the one who had been given two talents made two more talents.”  He also had doubled his master’s money.  Pretty impressive, do you know how much time it would take to double your money – legally?

“But the one who had received one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”  After a long time the master, or Christ in this example, returns.  He is anxious to see what his people have done with what he has entrusted them with.

The one given five talents had pleased his master, “Well done, good and trustworthy servant, you have been trustworthy in a few things.  I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.”  Enter into the kingdom and splendor of God’s presence.

The one given two talents had also pleased his master and is greeted the same, “Well done, good and trustworthy servant, you have been trustworthy in a few things.  I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.”

The servant given one talent had to give his account of what he had done with what he had been given.  This servant’s response appears to be more of a reflection on his own character than the nature of the God we serve.

“Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, gathering where you did not scatter seed, so I was afraid and I hid your talent in the ground.  Here you have what is yours.” 

The third servant, the one given one talent sat idly by.  After many years, maybe even a lifetime he had not been about his master’s work.  I envision this servant shrugging his shoulders as he hands the money back and then goes on the offensive about how it isn’t really his fault.  It is the master’s fault, it is God’s fault that I didn’t do anything productive with what he gave me.

The master was not happy.  “You wicked and lazy servant!  You knew, did you that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed?  Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received it with interest.”

“Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten talents.  For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 

“As for this servant, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

A warning parable about the accounting we will have to do when Christ returns.  Everyone is gifted whether they think they are or not.  The gifts we are given vary from person to person, no one gift is better or more important than another.  Those gifts are not to be wasted or to sit idle.

In this season of Thanksgiving, as we approach Advent and the celebration of Christ’s birth, let us be about God’s work in this world.  Let us feed, clothe and minister to the poor.  Let us be the church.  Let us be the light, the city on a hill that give sight to the blind and ears to hear for those that need to know our God.

Pastor Shawn LaRue, Seymour UMC

Author of Incomplete

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Give to God what belongs to God….

22 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by pastorshawnlarue in Guest Bloggers on BnV, Poetry

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The Stillness
Silent Blaze

In today’s reading two groups that were normally opposed to each other come together in an effort to trap a poor, itinerant preacher named Jesus.  The Pharisees I have talked often about. 

They were the religious leaders of the day.  They studied scripture, laws and customs and were quick to point out the transgressions of other with little awareness of their own sin.

The Herodians are presumed to be followers of Herod Antipas, the Roman leader.  The Herodians were a political group, not a religious one.  Acting as an extension of the Roman government.

Political and religious groups jockeying for position is as common today as it was in Christ’s day.  Israel was essentially a colony of the Roman Empire.  The Jewish people paid a tax to the Roman government that probably went to fund the Roman troops, guards and governor that occupied their country.

There was much bitterness over paying this.  Life was hard.  Large families in a rural society mean long hours of work on the farm, planting crops, tending livestock and praying for God’s provision.

How many of you hear today enjoy paying taxes?  How many of you celebrate when you property tax comes due?  Or when you buy a vehicle, only to be assessed several hundred dollars more….

I do not enjoy paying taxes, but it is the duty of a citizen of this country to help pay their share.  I don’t build the roads and bridges I drive on, plow snow from them or home school my children.

The Pharisees and Herodians approach Christ, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.

They flatter Christ and try to butter him up.  Teacher we know that you are a good guy, you are the man, you don’t show favorites and are abundantly fair.  They patronize him for what is coming next.

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” they ask him.  Should we pay the Roman tax? 

Keep in mind that we have religious leaders that oppose the Romans peacefully and an extension of the Roman government present.  Here is how this is a trap.

If Christ says yes if it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor then he would be seen as sympathizing with the Romans and betraying his own Jewish people.  A yes would give the Pharisees something to run with and undermine Christ’s credibility.

If he says no, it is not lawful to pay tax to the emperor then he could be accused of treason, sedition and be subject to the brutality that the Romans were famous for.

Further, endorsing the Herodian position, their tax and the currency used which hinted at the divinity of the Caesar.  How is Christ to do……….We’ve all been in a position where our choice was the lesser of two evils.

What does Christ do……..How does he find a way out of this well played trap? 

Christ did what he always does.  He saw the condition of the hearts of the men that were questioning him.  He knows the condition of the heart of each of us here today and all those that are not here.

He sees through the deceit, the trickery and the trap.  “Why are you putting me to the test you hypocrites?’ he asks.  Show me the coin used for the tax.

The group brought him a denarius.  The denarius spoke of both Romans oppression and blasphemy.  Farmer’s harvest were taxed, Jewish possessions were taxed.  A denarius was the usual wage for a day’s worth of work.

“Whose head is this and whose title?” Christ asks.  It is the emperor of course, the Caesar.  “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and give to God the things that are God’s.”

Give to the emperor what belongs to the emperor and give to God the things that belong to God.  Fulfill your obligations as working law-abiding citizens to you government, whether you approve of it or not.  Like it or not, it is the obligation and duty of every person.

Give to the government the things that bear the image of the government and its leaders and those that have done great things for their country, but give to God the things that bear the image of God.

So, where is the image of God found, who or what bears it…………Each of us do.  Every human being in every corner of the world does.  All of humankind was made in his image. 

It is us, ourselves, our being, our lives that we are to give to God.  But, do we do that?  Do we trust in God enough to do that?  Do we trust in God at all?

As Christians we have both earthly and heavenly responsibilities.  We are responsible to support our families, to be good parents to our children.  Nurturing and supporting them as them grow.  To respect our parents and elders. 

To work, pay our own way, our fair share.  To be responsible stewards of all that God has given us.  We have heavenly responsibilities as well.  A level of detachment has to exist in our lives.

We have to be able to detach from busy lives and spend time with our God.  We have to separate the wants of the flesh from the life of the spirit.  The wants of the flesh are overwhelming and can only be tamed by the spirit.

You are all probably familiar with the scripture in Matthew 25 – I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.  I was a stranger and you welcomed me.  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you took care of me.

Heavenly responsibilities.  Give to the emperor what belongs to the emperor and give to God what belongs to God.  Christ reasserts God’s ownership, sovereignty and rule.  A God so powerful, yet peaceful, fierce, but loving.

So peaceful and loving that he allows each of us to choose what do to with him.  We might complain how much tax we have to pay and how poorly those dollars are put to work sometime.  Roads full of potholes, spending large amounts of money on things we don’t think are needed.

I’m sure you’ve thought about this……You know how lucky we are to live as freely as we do.  There are people, many people, that live in danger for worshipping our God.  Many people in this world don’t have the freedoms that we have.

Give to the emperor what bears his image and give to God what bears his.  We have to find a balance between our obligations here on earth while fulfilling our obligations to God. 

We are to be about the work of the church.  When I say that I’m not talking about the self-preservation of the church.  I’m talking about growing and investing in people.  In relationships with one other, about being a deep group of people with purpose and vision.

Praying for guidance for this community of believers and how we can better reach people.  Better serve people.  Easy their suffering and bring them closer to God.

Give to the emperor, give to our government the things that belong to it and give to God the things that belong to God.

 

Pastor Shawn LaRue, Seymour UMC
Author of Incomplete

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How do you want to be remembered?

08 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by pastorshawnlarue in Guest Bloggers on BnV, Poetry

≈ 3 Comments

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blog, Blogging, Books, christianity, Humanity, Inspiration, Reflections, relationships, Religion, Truth, WordPress, Writing

Auburn
186

“So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ.  When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.”

How do you want to be remembered?  We have to accept that death is a part of this life.  Not to be feared, but to be a celebration of this life and the life to come.  From a jail cell, Paul wrote, “For you have died and your life is hid with Christ in God.”  The person you were before coming to faith is gone and you have been born again.  When that happen, life changes.  

Lives that burned for the things of this world are transformed into selfless lives of service.  Things are seen for what they are.  They have functional value and it’s nice to have nice things, but not at the expense of being able to do for others or finding your self-worth in them.

We don’t remember people for what the took — we remember people for what they gave.  How do you want to be remembered?

 

Pastor Shawn, Seymour UMC

Author of Incomplete

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Authority.

01 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by pastorshawnlarue in Guest Bloggers on BnV, Poetry

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Stark
maelstrom

I mentioned last week that we are near the end of Christ’s life in the book of Matthew.  He had made his triumphal return to the city of Jerusalem for the last time.  He had been hailed as a king, “Hosanna, Hosanna, in the highest!”

His relationship with the high priests, those that studied and were experts on religious custom and the law was contentious prior to his arrival in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover, a time of celebration for the Jewish people.

The people hailed him as a king when he entered the city.  Then Christ had the audacity to go to the temple and drive out those who were selling animals to be sacrificed in the temple.  Jewish people traveled from great distance to celebrate, worship and offer a sacrifice to their God.

Those that did the commerce in the temple took a little for themselves.  Let us exploit these travelers, these pilgrims.  Christ kept reversing the norm and upsetting those that took advantage of others. 

In today’s scripture, Christ enters the temple again, the very same place where he had just run those trying to make a profit.  He was teaching and preaching.

Those religions leaders I spoke of have had enough of him.  They approach him and ask, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

Why do you keep upsetting us, why are we the butt of these riddles you speak of, why do you keep exposing us?  That is what I think is going through their minds.  What gives you the right, who do you think you are?

To their defense not many people knew Christ’s true identity.  He didn’t flaunt it around, instead he kept it a secret oftentimes. 

Knowing that they were out to get him Christ responded to their question with a question, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.  Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”

Where did John the Baptist get his authority?  It was granted to him by our God of course.  He was called to be the voice out in the wilderness, paving the way for his cousin, Jesus the Messiah.  John the Baptist was wildly popular and had disciples of his own.

After discussing this among themselves, the chief priests, elders and scribes respond, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘why then did you not believe him?’  But if we say, ‘of human origin, we are afraid of the crowd for all regard John as a prophet.” 

“We don’t know.”  That was their answer, we don’t know.  Christ answered them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Discovering who Christ truly is should be central to our lives.  We should want the answer to the question that was posed…..Oh that’s easy, Christ is God’s son, he’s part of the trinity that many don’t fully understand, there is your answer.

That is a correct, but dangerously superficial answer.  The Christian journey is a life-long adventure into finding the truth in our own lives.  That search for truth always points us in the direction of our God. 

You know, I read this week’s scripture early this week and I was sure that I was going to struggle with it.  So I read it again and I was still sure I was going to labor with this reading from Matthew because the meaning within it wasn’t obvious to me.

I would like to think I can read scripture and know pretty quick what direction I’m going to go with it.  That wasn’t the case with this in spite of the fact that my bible titles this encounter, “The Authority of Jesus Questioned.”

It was questioned during his lifetime.  It is questioned now.  Does God exist, can you see the work of his hand in this world, can you see the work of his people? 

I like to think that I stick to the scripture, but I got to thinking about authority when I was struggling with this scripture. 

Authority.  Was it important to respect and obey your parents growing up?  Of course it was, we didn’t always do it, but they are our parents and they are an authority figure.

Did, or are, you supposed to listen to your teachers?  Your coaches?  To those in law enforcement, your doctor, your attorney, your parole officer – if you have one and maybe even your pastor….Why……

Because each is an authority figure and each has power and influence and hopefully they know what they are doing.  Our God is the ultimate authority figure, to whom we will have to give an account of our deeds someday.

Authority figures give us advise, they look out for our best interest and they tell us what to do and that is where things don’t go so good.  How many of you like to be told what to do?  How many of you didn’t do something because someone told you to do it?

All of us have probably done that.  We like to have options, make our own choices, I don’t like being ordered to do something.  It seems like we live in a time where authority figures are questioned, judged and blamed.

It’s not my child’s fault, the fault lies with the teacher, with the coach, the principal or whoever it was that tried to provide something that looked like discipline. 

We desperately need authority in our lives.  We depend on it.  We need leaders within our church, our school our community that have the courage to step up and lead in spite of the insults hurled at them.

We depend on authority, we need it, we have to have it.  We depend and are reliant on Christ’s authority.  If Christ is not God’s son, if he did not die on a cross and was resurrected three days later we are all wasting our time.  You should have slept in this morning and you certainly should not be paying me to preach to you.

We would be random people living random lives that made little sense.  I would rather believe that I am wonderfully made than I descended from an ape or caveman. 

We need to respect and honor our God’s authority, we need to listen for his voice, for his guidance and direction.  Once we hear it, once we make time to listen for it.  He has a calling for each of us.

Doesn’t mean it is to be a minister, a missionary or a monk or a nun.  We have to take the courage to answer that call, to submit to that authority. 

I think that is what authority is.  We minded our parents, for the most part hopefully, and submitted to what they wanted us to do because they had our best interest in mind in trying to teach us and mold us into hard-working, law-abiding citizens.

Teachers, coaches, family and friends have played the same role in our lives.  It is no different with our God.  

He has looked after and cared for us when we turned our back on him.  We’ve had to endure and suffer and we didn’t like it, it was awful.  But did it make us better?  Did it allow us to be grateful and feel blessed for all that we did have? 

The authority of our God, in three persons, is absolute and pure.  The bible is God’s word, his letter to each of us, it is how he reveals himself in the written word.  It has authority.  Let us honor our God who works tirelessly to bring us closer to him. 

Pastor Shawn, Seymour UMC

Author of Incomplete

http://www.incompletedevotional.com

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