Isn’t fun fun? It should be!

“Isn’t fun fun?”

My friend said this to me as I was teaching a group of ladies how to make an Easter wreath made out of torn scraps of fabric. Everyone nodded in agreement, and it got me thinking about fun.

When we were kids fun was really fun. The joy of building a sand castle, the thrill of riding a bike down a hill, or the wonder of exploring an amusement park reached us to the core. It just seemed easier to enjoy life as a child. Maybe because of lack of responsibilities or innocence, or insatiable curiosity.

I had to admit to myself that I don’t enjoy “fun” as much as I used to. I can only guess as to why that is. I suppose there are different reasons for everyone. But we all bring our negative baggage into most everything we do, and I think it interferes with our ability to enjoy life.

I want to try harder to approach each fun activity without my backpack of negative experiences, prejudices, and expectations weighing me down. I want fun to be fun.

Now, this was fun! My friends finished product.

Instructions: Purchase wire wreath at the dollar store. Tear about 70-80 pieces of fabric into 1 1/2 X 5 1/2 inch pieces in any color combination that you like. Tie pieces onto the second wire rung from the center in one tie (no need to make a knot). Purchase the bunny at the dollar store and use up your left over ribbon for added detail. Hot glue those on. Wa La!

Writers…register now for the CDA Christian Writers conference! Go HERE for information. And read my latest blog post for writers HERE.

Congratulations to the 5 who entered and won a copy of my book from my last newsletter contest. I love reviews! Learn how to leave one HERE.

Many blessings to you all, and go have some fun!
Jan

Interview with author Janet Bly

by Jan Cline
8 Comments

Welcome Janet!

“Beneath a Camperdown Elm” is the latest release of award-winning Janet Chester Bly. Janet has been bringing us great western stories for many years, and she loves sharing her own story as she speaks to groups around the region.

I’m honored to have Janet be my guest here today, and you are blessed to have the chance to win a copy of “Beneath a Camperdown Elm.” Leave a comment and the winner will be contacted on or around the 24th of February.

Here is my interview with Janet:

1. How does writing stories tie in with legacy for you?

Books can travel to places I may never go—an unexpected bonus of writing and publishing. What a privilege to hear of books authored by me or my late husband found in far stretches of the earth. Even in prison cells via donations to libraries.

Stories created can also last indefinitely, to the next generation and beyond.

A grandparent often spoils the children, then goes home. But if you’re a serious grandparent with an eye to the kind of inheritance you’ll pass on, you assess resources. Even with limited material possessions, a writer leaves a legacy, a generous will on their grandchild’s and great-grandchild’s heart. For the Christian writer, that includes a spiritual legacy. Even in fiction stories, characters can provide a testimony of faith and God’s work in our world in unsettled circumstances.

2. What is your favorite part of the novel writing process and why?

Surprises! Those ‘aha’ moments when the unexpected happens to resolve a conflict or figure out a problem. It’s that sense of discovery when a plot point takes a turn I never planned at the beginning of the process. That’s when I receive affirmation that I really did have a viable story idea and that maybe I really am a fiction writer after all.

3. Have you always loved stories from the past?

As a young girl with four siblings in a two-bedroom house, each of us treasured our visits alone to our grandparents’ house each summer. The bedroom shelves lined with authors such as Pearl S. Buck and Taylor Caldwell. I’d read some every night in bed by flashlight. Some of the poignant scenes from those stories still stay with me. A pleasant memory of past special moments of activities with Grandpa and Grandma melded with entering foreign worlds of adventure through books.

4. What would you say to the younger generation today about history and literature?

History is often regarded as ‘His-story’, referring to mankind as a whole and also to God. History has a story connected to it. It’s one big story about people, their passions and fight for survival. History is the study of past events that impact our present existence. Literature illuminates those stories and allows the reader to make more sense of the current world. The ongoing similarities of drama, power struggles, loves and hates, and intrigue from one generation to the next. The Christian Bible, most of all, provides this broad expanse of history in stories, as well as the foundation for how we should live.

Literature opens and expands minds and hearts to a wide world beyond our own narrow, self-centered sight.

It helps us to think in critique and analysis, to read between the lines to hidden meanings. We get to look inside other people, through invading the inner privacy of characters, to know the mind, reasoning, and motivations of another.

Reading history and literature also sparks creativity for the writer to imagine his or her own stories to add to the stacks available through the ages.

5. What kind of books do you enjoy reading?

Mysteries of all sorts—such as English author Anne Perry with her historical detective Thomas Pitt and William Monk series; or Mary Higgins Clark, because she was one of my mother’s favorites; or Elizabeth Peters and P.D. James, to name a few. Numerous others from the past and present cram my shelves. I also enjoy nonfiction that touches on research for a potential novel or expands on topics that enlighten, educate, or entertain. Right now on my TBR pile are books on music, prayer, nutritional cooking, a review of French language and culture, and an overview of western civilization.

6. What are your future plans for publishing?

I’m taking a break for a year or two from writing my own novels and taking on the tedious, but privileged task of re-releasing as many as possible of my late husband Stephen’s out-of-prints in paperback and eBook. He authored more than 100 fiction and nonfiction. Right now I’m completing Final Justice at Adobe Wells, Book 5 of the seven-book Stuart Brannon western adventure series. Published first by Crossway Books, they made a decision to discontinue fiction. Then Greenbrier Books picked it up, but sadly the owner, author and agent Ron Benrey, passed away. Now it’s my turn to keep them up and available.

Thanks so much for sharing with us! Below are links to Janet’s social media sites. Comment for a chance to win a book.

Be sure to explore Jane’t website, as she has some free downloads there. https://www.blybooks.com/

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/BlyBooks/
Facebook Personal: https://www.facebook.com/janetchesterbly/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janetchesterbly/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlyBooks
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/janetcbly/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/269265.Janet_Chester_Bly
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetchesterbly

A Grand Design

by Jan Cline
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I just returned from a trip to South Dakota. We have always wanted to see the monument at Mount Rushmore, and also the Crazy Horse monument. So we visited both, and were not disappointed.

It’s really an amazing site and I was surprised at how close you could get those guys!

The Crazy Horse monument is only partially finished after decades of work. It’s likely that not even our children will see the completion in their lifetime. It will be multiple times bigger than Mount Rushmore, which is….well, really, really big.

I thought a lot about all the years of arduous work that scores of men endured to make these spectacles happen. The original visions for these massive projects are obsessions I cannot relate to. But everyone who had and still has a part are to be commended. The endless toil and remarkable determination must have worn some of them down, and possibly killed them.

The thing that struck me most about what I saw in those few days is the comparison between man’s struggle to create and God’s wave of his hand. This country has so many vastly diverse and majestic sites to see – it boggles my mind to think of how creative our God is.

Yes, the geologists will tell us exactly how everything was formed, but I know in my heart that no matter how or when it happened, the grand Designer was and is the energy behind it. I have done enough traveling that I can say without a doubt that the pleasure the landscape of America brings us, we owe to a creative force far more powerful than an eruption from earth’s core.

Our history as Americans is short, yet we celebrate our beginnings every year. The 4^th of July holiday is upon us once again, and I wish everyone could see and enjoy this land we live in as I have, and will do as long as I can. It makes me humble and proud at the same time to see the handiwork of it all – a gift.

It’s important for our children to see this handiwork, and learn some history at the same time. There are lots of inexpensive ways to do that. We need to bring back the days of road trips to see America without electronics to distract us.

Smith Rock State Park, Oregon

I hope you all will get out and see America…and soon!

Jan

Failure…friend or foe?

by Jan Cline
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Sometimes there are hurdles you can’t jump over. Sometimes the cracked doors are not going to open all the way. And it’s a certainty that man’s plans will never trump God’s.

Facing failure is not usually an enjoyable experience. I’ve never met anyone who said, “I like this feeling of falling flat on my face.” I have known some who pick themselves up more quickly than others, or are able to use failure to a bigger advantage. But for the most part, failure is an enemy to us humans.

I’ve always been a risk taker. Having taken a leap into many ventures, there have been some colossal failures. I find that the older I get, the less likely I am to jump into the boiling pot of risk. I am a bit more leery of being scalded than I used to be. I find myself growing lazy at jumping those hurdles and spend more time wishing for a measure of success. Just being honest.

But I know that success is not in my ultimate control – at least in the way I personally define success for the venture of being an author. I can learn the craft, pour my heart and life onto the page, market myself into bankruptcy, and do all the social media I can find time for. But when even marginal success eludes me, I have to do what we all do in the face of what we consider failure. Fight or fly. Lie down or stand firm. Be discouraged or be diligent.

I don’t always make the right choice. Life has a way of stepping in front of you and holding out its arms – trying to block you from making any decision at all. But we wake up the next day and at some point decide to decide again.

I don’t like failure. So I must redefine success, or make up my mind that it doesn’t matter as much as I think it does. The best outcome will be when I can lean on the One who lights my path, knows the plans He has for me, and opens doors in His time. There are worse things than failure. Like never having tried at all.

So what do you do in the face of failure? Do you struggle to define success?

Keep reaching, she said to herself.

Shall I Tell You It’s Been Fun?

by Jan Cline
6 Comments

March 28, 2016

Do you want the truth or do you want a lie? Sometimes we don’t want to hear the whole truthful advice about something we are going to do anyway. If we’re driven, we’re driven.

We learn as we grow what drives us and if we should listen to that voice.

I listened to the voice I believed was right when I decided to Indie publish my first novel. Here are the ups and downs of that decision.

Up: I’m my own boss. I own it. I had/have total creative freedom with content and cover.

Down: I’m inexperienced at all the details I needed to know in order to do this right.

Up: I have not only accomplished a great thing by completing a novel, I added another accomplishment to my list by publishing it myself. It is a good feeling.

Down: I’m tired, I’m scared, I’m uncertain that it will sell, and I don’t have a publisher to call to solicit encouragement.

Up: I can schedule my writing/publishing aspirations at my own speed and intensity.

Down: I do better with concrete deadlines – ones that someone else imposes.

Up: I have learned more in 6 months than I thought I ever could.

I’ll not end with a down….

Should I do it again? Will I do it again? Probably. Here’s why.

I have given in to the doubt, the fears, the disappointments, and the realities of self-publishing. But the bottom line for me is I’m NOT in control. I am not the gatekeeper of my writing and publishing career, whether traditionally or independently published. God is.

What will I do in light of all my doubts and fears that my first book will never sell more than 100 copies? I will write another one.

Will I Indie publish the next one too, even if the first one fails? Unless I have a publisher knocking down my door, I will. Do I think my original voice was right? Yes. Not because of how I feel , but because of what I know.

It’s easy, my friends, to get paralyzed by facts and figures. It’s common for us to be swayed by them. I am in the “do you trust Me?” phase of this adventure. I must seek glory for Him, not myself.

God is asking me if I trust Him. The only way I know to answer is to keep going with the plan, His plan.

Looking ahead and not getting stuck in the “what if I was wrong” quicksand is my goal for the coming months.

How are you doing with your plan, whatever it is? Are you doubting, fearing, thinking you need to run home and hide under the bed? Don’t do it. Just do the next thing. Go forward and…

Keep reaching!

Jan