Running... Out of Time

I'm always amazed at how time flies! And how very busy my life is. I bet yours is the same way.

Sitting here at my desk, I'm surrounded by blog interviews that need to be done, TV appearance requests, Radio interview requests, three new book proposals, bills, receipts, and book endorsement requests. And that's just my "writing" stuff. Let's not even talk about personal stuff, or homeschooling, or ... ugh. I'm feeling just a tad bit overwhelmed.

My title for this was: Running . . . out of time. Aren't we all running? Shouldn't we be running? Hebrews 12:1-3 says this, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart." (NASB)

So yes, I'm running. And I'm running out of time - we ALL are. I'm running the race set before me and as the enemy tries to steal my time (especially my writing time, it seems) I'm going to keep ON running. How many more people will God place in my path? I don't know, because I don't know how much time I have left, but I DO know that He wants me - and all of us - to be lights for Him, use the gifts that He has given us, and keep running the race.

Throw off those encumbrances, get rid of that sin, fix your eyes on Jesus and let's run with whatever amount of time we have left.

***
Kimberley Woodhouse is a wife, mother, author, and musician with a quick wit and positive outlook despite difficult circumstances. A popular speaker, she’s shared at more than 600 venues across the country. Kimberley and her family's story have garnered national media attention for many years, but most recently her family was chosen for ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The Montel Williams Show, and Discovery Health channel’s Mystery ER which premiered in 2008. Her story, Welcome Home: Our Family’s Journey to Extreme Joy, is available now from Focus on the Family/Tyndale Publishers. Kimberley lives, writes, and homeschools in Colorado with her husband of seventeen years and their two children in their truly “extreme” home.
Check out Kim's Website to order her books!

Healing POV

Healing Stones and Healing Waters by Nancy Rue and Steve Arterburn. I just finished reading these two books and there is a lot of I could say.
I could say these were great books that kept me up at night because I couldn’t put them down.
I could say these books touched my heart and taught me about faith.
I could say Healing Waters, really touched my heart and soul as I deal with my own weight-related image issues.
I could say these books hold great spiritual truths and how they apply to life.
I could write long articles about all of the above because they are true. But today, I want to write from my author’s heart. These two books reminded me of all the classes I have taken, books I have read, and things I have been told about the best point of view from which to write.
Nancy Rue and Steve Arterburn followed an interesting pattern in these books. In these novels, there are two main characters. The first is Sullivan Crisp, a Christian psychologist, who appears in both books. The female protagonists are Demitria Costanas in Healing Stones and Lucia Coffey in Healing Waters. The POV changes back and forth between Crisp and the women. The women’s stories are told in first person and Crisp’s story is in third person.
By using first person I was drawn deeply into Demitria’s and Lucia’s stories. This was especially true of Healing Waters. One of the issues in this story is how self-image is related to a woman’s obesity, a problem with which I struggle. As I read, “This is what I feel….” or “This is what I think…” I could actually hear myself saying the words as I have many times. I felt as though I was actually inside the minds of these women.
In Crisp’s use of third person, I heard someone leading me through a path of exploring wisdom and finding answers for my life. Crisp has his own flaws and struggles; just as people we turn to are imperfect. This gives a very clinical feeling to the story.
Overall, the use of two different POVs from first and third persons was effective in making me feel like I was part of the story in a real life setting.

Conference Time

It's that time of the year again. Right now I'm at the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference, helping Marlene Bagnull with the second conference she runs each year. I arrived last Wednesday night, and we've been scrambling ever since to get the details taken care of. We have a record number attending this year at 283, and we are rejoicing in God's provision. Of course it makes for more behind-the-scenes work. This year, Marlene also put me on faculty, and today I taught my editing workshop on punctuation. Would you believe around 50 people attended that class? We had great participation, but goodness, my mind still boggles at that number. And today I had a good number of appointments, as well. I'm excited about those I spoke to today.

As always it's good to connect with other writers, editors, agents, and publishers—people who understand and love this wonderful world of writing and the unique minds that go with it. And I'm loving seeing my Colorado friends here in Philly, many of them for the first time: Jeff Gerke, Tanya Warrington, and Shannon (Hill) Marchese. And I'm probably missing someone. Though I'm too tired to go look at the list.

Next month is the annual ACFW Conference in Denver! And I already can't wait. I'm looking forward to more wonderful times with my writer friends. This is the one conference I attend that I pay for. But even then I won't be sitting idly in classes. Since Colorado is hosting the conference we have many unique opportunities to volunteer and give back to a great organization. Some of the opportunities we've already let you know about through our chapters and the ACFW Colorado loop. Others we will try to keep you updated with here on the blog as they come up. If you are interested in helping out in some way, please leave a comment on the blog, and I'll get back to you with the possibilities. Many of you have already volunteered. Thank you to all of you for making ACFW Colorado a great place to be!

God Hugs

Ever heard this one: "Oh yeah, that's those Amish books, right?" or how about this one: "I don't read prairie romance."

I'm always amazed at how uneducated the general public is on the books published in the CBA. Yes we have our Amish books and our prairie romances--and some of them are absolutely fabulous and have hung out on best seller lists. But we also have fantasy, thrillers, mysteries, and . . . well, you name it, we've got it. (Almost.) CBA books offer diversity in style, taste, and artistic expression, even as they all offer the most important thing--God Himself.

Take, for example, three of the novels I read this summer. They weren't even that dissimilar in genre. All three included some romance. All three three explored an inner female journey. All three included faith elements. But despite the fact that they had similarities, they were very different. On purpose.

I won Gunfight at Grace Gulch in a drawing when its author, Colorado ACFW member Darlene Franklin, spoke at HIS Writers. I breezed through the book, enjoying references to places I knew from my childhood in Oklahoma, including the lake I swam in most every day one summer. The book was a light fare, romance and mystery, and perfect for an evening when I just needed to escape the pressures of life and enjoy a safe story. Published by HeartSong Presents Mysteries, I knew it would be a book I could trust not to rock my world too much--a fun, quick read. And it lived up to its expectation. Dependable. Trustworthy when my heart couldn't take one more assault. The guy got the girl--or uh, the girl got the guy. The bad guys were defined and called out. The faith questions were dealt with. I enjoyed humor, creativity, and romance while taking a break from a stressful time. When I finished this book I felt peaceful. There was a hope that all can be righted in His due time, that justice will eventually be served and love will find its voice. I rolled over to quiet dreams as God's faithfulness wrapped around me like a hug.

Reading The Queen of Sleepy Eye, by Colorado author Patti Hill, was a whole different experience. Published by B & H Fiction, this novel was willing to push the envelop. Still a story of faith, everything wasn't settled so neatly. The struggles were real, the heart strings were tugged, and as the heroine grew up, so did I. The end satisfied not because everything was settled perfectly, but because God was faithful even when life was hard and choices were less than stellar. As one reviewer said on the back cover copy, the book portrayed the "crushing cost of sin and the transforming power of grace." It's a book that made me think a little deeper, and live a little more honestly. Even though it was hard to walk through the pain of that growing up summer with its heroine, Amy, the story was offered to me with gentleness, penned with beauty of phrase, deep characterization, and an eye to redemption. God's hug wasn't quite so safe, but it was just as faithful, and perhaps its grasp was little tighter--a testament to HIS faithfulness in my weakness.

ACFW author Claudia Mair Burney's book, Zora and Nicky: A Novel in Black and white, didn't come to me with gentleness. It sang out with passion and zing. Liz Curtis Higgs calls the book "Unflinchingly honest and bold as brass." Published by David C. Cook, this book confronted me with the raw power and unpolluted clarity of God's amazing grace--undeserved, yet freely given. The romance was so beautiful at times that I wept, swept away by the glory and purity of love, and yet the story's twists and turns also included such agony that on occasion my stomach hurt. It undid me, probing ugly places I don't want to even admit are in my world, leaving few sacred stones unturned. The writing also sometimes left me breathless--both from the story it told and from the sheer strength of the collection of its words, carved onto the page with a voice all their own. There was no meandering through this book. There was no holding onto false illusions of strength. I was laid bare, reminded that it is only the merciful God of grace who can save. Reminded that He never gives up. God's hug through this novel was fierce, protective, and unrelenting. He will never, ever let me go.

Three novels. Three experiences. Three reactions. Yet all three showed me God's faithfulness. Maybe that's part of what I love about reading books from the CBA. I can find books for my ever-changing seasons and needs. I know where to turn when I need to be stretched and what to grab when I need to feel safe. And I can trust each time that I will find God there, calling me into His arms.

Next time someone you know wants to put CBA in a box, send them my way. I'll bet we can find an author who tickles their fancy--and give them a God hug at the same time.

Book Covers & Sonograms

One of the best things about becoming an author is the day you open your email and find your publisher has sent the first glimpse of the artwork that will soon become your cover. These “glimpses” are called mockups.

One of the best things about becoming a grandmother is seeing the sonogram for the first time. A sonogram is the ultrasound picture that allows you the first glimpse of your grandbaby.

Last week I saw the sonogram of my fourth grandchild.

I also received the mockup of the cover for my fourth book.

Sonograms show a work in progress.

Mockups also show a work in progress.

When you see the first sonogram you either think, “What a cute little face.” or “What a cute little inkblot.”

When you see your first mockup, you either think, “This is perfect! The artist catches my vision of this story!” or “What were they thinking? Did they even read the five page form I sent of every minute detail?”

The baby in the sonogram finally makes an appearance. You either think: “What an absolutely beautiful red-faced raisin.” or “Kinda looks like your Uncle Fred,” if it’s a boy. “Kinda looks like your Uncle Fred,” if it’s a girl.

Mockups finally arrive on your doorstep attached to real books. You either think: “I’m proud to have my name stamped on the front of this cover.” or “Where’s the Wite-Out?”

Yes. I’ve had both reactions to my covers. The good thing about a book cover over a baby is that if you have an author-oriented publisher like mine, they allow you to suggest changes.

My three grandchildren and Inkblot? Absolutely gorgeous. Every one of them!

Kathleen E. Kovach is an award winning author, leader of the local critique group JOY Writers, and the Rocky Mountain Zone Director for American Christian Fiction Writers. Kathy lives in northeast Colorado with her husband of over three decades. She has two sons, three grandchildren (and an inkblot), and two grandpets - all of whom, at one point or another, have taken advantage of the revolving door on her empty nest. She is the creator of two blogs: www.kathleenekovach.blogspot.com and www.craftcinema.blogspot.com. Please visit her website at www.KathleenEKovach.com.