Writing Plans

I think it's time I'm honest with you all...

I had fully intended to edit, polish, and publish Children of a Legend sometime this summer/fall, but as 2014 slips away, I don't think that's happening. For me, the story that begins in CoaL is just that -- the beginning. It's the first in a series (hopefully only a trilogy) and the story is one and the same to me even though its path is divided into three books. That's The Dragon Tamer. I still am not entirely sure how the whole story is going to play out. Don't get me wrong, I know my main plot points and all the scenes I'm dying to write, but exactly *how* everything comes about... well, you never really know how that's going to be until you actually get to it. 

What I'm trying to say is that I'm having a hard time reconciling myself to writing a part, publishing a part, writing another part, publishing another part, etc. For me, it never was three separate books but one story as a whole. I can't publish even the first part until I know the last part. *shrugs* Sorry, guys. 

{Experimental, promotional whatever cover...}

Since May 1st, I've been working on book two (Rebirth of a Legend), and I've penned about 17,000 words so far this month, bringing the entire novel up to just over 63,000 words. I'm excited that it's been going so well, and I'm having loads of fun! For one thing, RoaL includes all of the main and minor characters of CoaL, and introduces a bunch of new ones. While in CoaL, I wrote mostly from Davin's POV with a few chapters going to Lord Vernd or one of his croonies, I'm finding RoaL to be a lot more complicated. In order to follow the entire story, Davin's POV isn't enough, and I'm currently following about four different people and their POVs as the chapters progress. It's great fun. *grins*

In the meantime, as bizarre as this sounds, I think Secret of the Hazel Tree is the closest to being published out of any of my stories. Truthfully, it's the only *complete* story among any of my works. I had thought on April 30th when I finished writing it, that it would sit for a few months, and then I'd edit it, run it through a passel of beta-readers, and then hopefully publish it sometime 2015/2016. Yet.. reading over it, it doesn't seem to have as many problems as I thought it had, and the few people I've let read it have loved it. Obviously, it's not perfect, but I'm hoping that the problems can be fixed within a decent amount of time.

What am I saying now? I'm asking you to pray for me. I'm considering trying to self-publish Secret of the Hazel Tree this year. Yes, this year, as in 2014. I'm not positive it will happen, but I'm content to know the timing is all in God's hands. I am planning on my first year at college this fall, so any book releases will have to go around that somehow, and I'm not sure how that's all going to go. It's odd -- I already have the entire release party for SotHT planned, and the book's not ready yet. :D

So, please pray for me as I start this endeavor. Also... a question: From what you know of SotHT, would *you* be interested in reading it and helping me promote it this year?

God bless!

The Truth About James 5:14-15

"Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."

James 5:14-15 (KJV)

Not many people would think twice while reading James 5, especially when going through these particular verses. I mean, seriously, how can putting oil on someone heal him? It sounds like a cult thing to do, right? Actually, no. Sit down and grab some lemonade. Let me tell you a story.

A few years ago, a very good friend of my family (whom we shall refer to as Mr. Friend in this story) approached my father and asked him what he thought about this passage. My father, a preacher, honestly responded that he hadn't really given it much thought, but that if God commanded it, then we should do it. Mr. Friend then asked if my dad would anoint him with oil.

See, Mr. Friend had just been diagnosed with cancer... for the third time. He'd already had it twice, and gone through major radiation, had his head cut open to allow the doctors to remove cancer, and now he was facing that yet again.

My dad put a lot of prayer into this, as I'm certain you can imagine. He went with my mom to pick out a special oil to use, and then the next Sunday in church, my dad asked Mr. Friend to come up before the congregation. My dad read the verses from James, explained what he was doing, put a dab of the oil on Mr. Friend's forehead, and then motioned for the men of the church to join him in laying their hands on Mr. Friend and praying for him right then and there, stating that what they were doing was in faith, and that whatever the outcome would be, may God be glorified. 

Personally, I really wasn't sure about the whole thing. I had no idea if it would actually work. Truthfully, I really wasn't sure if we weren't doing something horribly out of style and dated and whatnot. But since my dad, who is a pastor, was proceeding with it all in good faith, I figured it was fine.

A few tense days passed. Mr. Friend went to the doctor. And we got a phone call.

THE CANCER WAS GONE!

Completely gone! The doctor couldn't find a trace of it anywhere. Mr. Friend was cancer-free, and to this day, he still is. 

But what was it that had happened? Why did Mr. Friend get healed the way he did?

It wasn't the oil. Even though it had been specially prepared for such anointing, it wasn't a magic oil. It was a simple blend of simple oils. There was nothing amazing about it.

It wasn't the fact that all the men in our church laid their hands on Mr. Friend. They were just normal men, men who went through the same day-to-day trials that we all do. There was nothing amazing about the men.

It wasn't even Mr. Friend himself. He only stepped up in faith and obeyed what God had said to do in James 5. There was nothing amazing about Mr. Friend.

Read the verses I posted above again. It was because it was done in faith. "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick." It was the amazing act of God that healed Mr. Friend. It was all God. We simply obeyed, in faith, and we saw miraculous results that only He could give.

Too many times we brush things off, such as anointing with oil, calling them old-fashioned, not relevant, cultish. Why do we do that? It's because we don't believe God can do the miracles we read about in the Bible again. It was amazing to read about, but we think it's pointless to ask for some of the same miracles again. Christ cast out demons, healed the lame and blind, granted health to the sick. Is He not able to do the same now? He is. And He does. It's our job to obey, trusting that He will answer. It's our job to believe that the God of the universe, the Lord that loves us so, will hear our prayer. We don't see miracles today because we don't look for them. We don't see His hand of power because we don't believe we could see His power working. God is still performing miracles today. Mr. Friend is living proof. We just need need to obey and trust Him.

Yesterday, we had a special service in our church to anoint my grandma, as well as Mr. Friend's daughter and her husband. My grandma (this is my dad's mom, not the one that was in a car accident last December) fell and severely broke her leg last summer and is just finally able to get around again. However, during her months in a cast, other physical problems came to light, including the telltale signs of Parkinson's disease, and she asked my dad to anoint her. Mr. Friend's daughter has some kind of heart disorder where her heart beats too hard and too fast for her good, and she is facing surgery sometime in the near future. Mr. Friend's son-in-law was in a car accident back in 2005, in which he ruptured a disc in his back. Since then, he's had 2 failed back surgeries, and lives every day in pain. 

My dad anointed all three of them yesterday. We don't know how God will answer, whether He will heal them like He did Mr. Friend or not. But we know that whatever happens, He will be glorified.

God bless!

An Update On My Grandmom

Last January I asked you all to add my grandparents to your prayer list, and for those of you who lifted them up in prayer, please allow me to give you my utmost gratitude and thanks. I realize that I have not said since that time anything about my grandmother, so I am making myself take the time to say something now.

For those of you who don't know, my grandparents were in a car accident coming home from my cousins' house after Christmas. Their car went up against the guardrail, and my grandmom was seriously injured. They airlifted her to the hospital where, over the course of the next several days, she went through many leg surgeries. My granddad escaped without any injury, praise the Lord. 

Some weeks ago, Grandmom was moved from the hospital where she had been staying to a hospital only four miles from her home, and Granddad was able to rest for the first time in his own bed. The doctors were happy with the recovery she had been making, and she was very glad to get back to her home state. Last Friday, she actually went home, much to the ecstasy of our whole family. She was very encouraged, talking with my mom later, and said she cannot wait to be back up and doing things around her home again.

While Grandmom is, on the whole, doing better, I still covet your prayers for her. I praise the Lord for the progress we've seen so far with Grandmom, and I am very happy that she is safe in the care of the Great Physician. He is good, and the things He does are amazing.

Thank you all, and God bless!

Tales Of The Holidays And A Prayer Request

Yes, technically this should probably be split into two posts, but I don't feel like typing out two different posts at the moment. So, if you're really interested in reading this post, get yourself a hot drink (tea, if you must, otherwise I'd prefer you sip something else), sit back, and begin this epistle.

Okay, so maybe not epistle, but it is kinda long... and sorry... I didn't have any pics to upload.

So much has happened in the last month that I hardly know where to begin. I have the sensation that I am sitting down to write a letter to good friends to inform them of a great chunk of my life that I have neglected to mention here on this blog. Hopefully, you will forgive my rambling, for I fear that I will fall into some sort of insane sentences and garbled paragraphs. 

But anywho... to begin the tales of the holidays:

December flew by so quickly that it almost seemed as if the month had never happened at all. The first few days found my family in deep practice for three Christmas concerts. (You do recall that my family sings together, right?) On the 10th, we sang for an hour in a local mini "mall," a grand mix of fun and sacred songs. However, due to weather and bad timing, we only had a few people show up. We had so many friends tell us (slightly paraphrased), "We're so sorry we missed it! When are you singing again?" that my dad scheduled for us to give another concert on the 20th when we were able to invite a lot more people. We debuted some new songs this year, including a special rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas and Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella. For the third concert, we were supposed to sing for a local nursing home, but the concert got postponed for later in January when the facility was quarantined due to a flu outbreak. 

Our classy blood cousins' cousins came up for Christmas this year, and after years of hearing about them, we were finally able to meet. The evenings we gathered together for fellowship found us eating way too many cookies, talking so much that some of us nearly lost our voices the next day, and playing swell games around the dining room table, namely Four on a Couch. 

Christmas Eve my family visited a local nursing home (not the one with the flu) and caroled. It's amazing the blessing you yourself can recieve while being a blessing to others. It may seem a little thing to simply give some of your time and talent to bring a smile to the face of someone, but the feeling of joy his or her smile creates in your heart is something that you want to hold on to. 

Christmas Day dawned early for me, waking up at 6:15 when my little sister, KT Bugs, crawled into my bed, asking to snuggle, which we did until the rest of my family decided it was time to get up around 9 o'clock. My mom made our family's traditional breakfast: egg sausage casserole and cranberry coffee cake. My father read aloud the Christmas story from Luke 2 as we sat around the table and marveled at the wondrous gift of love that God sent the world. Then we all settled around our Christmas tree to exchange gifts. I was muchly excited to give Teddy and KT the doll dresses I made, two replicas of Disney princesses' dresses: Belle for Teddy and Rapunzel for KT Bugs. My family, it is obvious, knows me absolutely too well, for I recieved 7 books for Christmas, including a splendid, glorificous copy of Bleak House! My sister also gave me a brick-sized volume of Les Mis, which I shall dig into once I am done with Bleak House.

On the Thursday following Christmas, our church hosted a New Years' Taco Bar. It would have been pizza, but unfortunately, many of the families in our church have allergies, so tacos was a much simpler meal. It was here that I was first introduced to the word game Probe, which is now a big favorite of mine. For those of you who know Probe, you know with me how awesome it is, and fun it is to do words like auxillary. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, go find someone who knows how to play Probe and convince them to teach you, too.

And then our CBCs came for New Years (you all should know what that means by now...)! As would be expected, we stayed up after midnight on December 31st, singing and praying the new year in. We also made up a new way to play Apples to Apples, ate way too much pizza, memorized epic songs from our favorite soundtracks, and probably played The Wilds Bunch: Takin' A Break CD nonstop for three days straight. You know, all the normal stuff you do with CBCs. And then we ended it all with a cold. I'm still taking cough medicine. But what's a little cold to a grand, old visit with epic CBCs? 

And more stuff happened, but I have either forgotten it or I am planning to writer about it later, so all of that will have to suffice for now.

I do have a huge prayer request to share with you all, and I do hope that you all have read down this post far enough to get to this point. 

My mom's parents visited my cousins this year for Christmas, and on the way home on the 27th, my grandparents got into a car accident, and my grandmother was seriously injured. She is still in the hospital, and has had quite a few surgeries on her legs. Praise the Lord, Granddad was unhurt, and Grandmom is doing better, but I would like to ask you all to add them to your prayer list. Please pray that the Lord would give the doctors wisdom as they care for Grandmom, that she would heal quickly, and that He would grant peace and comfort to my entire family. My parents are going to go visit them in the hospital on Saturday, and we kids are staying with our blood cousins for a few days while they're gone. I know that God has His hands in this, and I know that He will be honored and gloried in whatever may happen, but it comforts my soul to know that so many people are lifting my grandparents up in prayer. 

Many thanks, and God bless!