Serials and Scenarios ~ Vote and Get a Chance at a Kindle...

Head on over to Misty Taggart's site to vote for your favorite book trailer. Each voter gets an entry for the grand prize giveaway- A KINDLE! Hurry- midnight (PST) March 23, 2010 deadline.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Toad-Man's B-Day

Happy Birthday, Toad-Boy.


We could have named you after your grandfather Patrick since you were born on St. Patrick's day. I blame the lack of drugs before and during delivery on that little oversight.

We did score the sweet combination of doctors. Drs. Green and Bean, thank you very much.

Being the first-born you were the practice child and I apologize and thank you for not sending us the summons, the server or the bill for extensive psychological help.

We are very proud to call you our son. Thanks for blessing me for twenty-something years....oooh those numbers get a little scary, Son. Trust me on that.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Don't See These In Iowa....

More images from Chile....

Outlets....really...so that's why she needed an adapter.

GARBAGE CAGES....because dogs roam hill and dale.
Little Lizards




And Dirty Q-TIP Trees....

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Chile Dogs

23 reports that dogs wander throughout Santiago, Chile. Many have homes, of course, but many, many, many seem to fend for themselves. None growled or acted aggressive and most looked healthy enough.

Open-air restaurants are stomping grounds for local dogs. Others just hang near tourists, patiently waiting for a handout or a pet. 23 said she wanted to adopt them and bring them all home. (Judging from the pictures, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have room.)

Also. After the big quake of February 26th, there was total silence for a few seconds followed by piercing alarms of all sorts and the eerie howling of dogs.

The howling of dogs was also present before the earthquake. One church member heard them at 1:30 a.m. and told her son that something was going to be happening that night. And boy did it.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ A Contrast or Two

I am SO glad my world traveler is home safe and sound.

We've talked hours and are just starting to scratch the surface.

One of the biggest blessings of being in Chile during the earthquakes (there were two more, a 7.2 and a 6.9 the morning before they left) was seeing the people reach out to their brothers and sisters and neighbors.

At one point the girls in Chile had to INSIST on helping with relief because there were so MANY people helping that they didn't really need them. Just their neighborhood area collected over 4 tons of clothes and hundreds of boxes of food, medical and cleaning supplies for those further south who were devastated by the big earthquake.

More to follow later. : )

Serials and Scenarios ~ Once in a Blue Moon

I am a third of the way through this book. Pretty entertaining so far. : ) Review will be coming soon.

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Once in a Blue Moon

B&H Books (March 1, 2010)

by

Leanna Ellis


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Leanna's sister recommended that she write, since she ‘wrote in her journal all the time.’ The idea took root and began to grow. So after five years of teaching, she quit and started writing, with no clue about the book business. Ignorance is bliss. If she’d known the odds against her, she might not have ever started writing.

For about three years, she wrote with a collaborator, but because she had so many ideas she began to write more stories on her own. She suffered numerous rejections. Deservedly so. But she was growing as a writer and learning. She went to as many conferences as she could manage. During that time, she met her future husband, fell in love and became engaged. She also began to final in contests and then actually began to win! The contests helped her get noticed by editors and agents. In March, the year Braveheart won the Best Picture Oscar, Victor/Victoria opened on Broadway, she sold her first book. It was her Cinderella year. She sold her book, got married and won RWA’s Golden Heart Award in Hawaii.

She wrote six books between her first baby’s birth and when the second baby turned one. Then she hit a wall. Not literally. But creatively. It’s not that she didn’t have any ideas, but her ideas didn’t fit the romance market. These new characters, random and weird as they were, began to take over the part of her brain that wasn’t domesticated. These stories were about all types of women, and so she began to let her writing grow in new and different ways.

Leanna Ellis sold more than 1.3 million romantic novels writing as Leanna Wilson, winning a Readers’ Choice award and the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart award for her work. Elvis Takes a Back Seat is the first book published under her married name, marking a new creative direction in her writing. Like Francine Rivers before her, Leanna has left behind a successful career as an author of secular romances to write novels of faith that glorify God. A former schoolteacher, Leanna is now a homeschool mom and lives with her husband and children in Keller, Texas.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Bryn Seymour was nine years old when her mother died under mysterious circumstances on the same day Apollo 11 made its historic lunar landing. Forty years later—divorced, working as an obituary writer, and duly cynical—she meets Howard, a conspiracy theorist who knew her mom and believes a small Texas town may hold clues to what really fueled her demise. Seeking closure, Bryn goes along for this men-in-black ride. But upon meeting Howard’s son Sam, an outspoken Christian, she can’t decide whose beliefs are more pie-in-the-sky.

The gravity of life has pulled Bryn down for decades. But a perfect love could be her first step to soaring. It only happens once in a blue moon.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Once in a Blue Moon, go HERE

Watch the book trailer:

MY REVIEW:

Once in a Blue Moon is a charming and quirky novel of second chances, forgiveness and moving toward hope. Reckless in life, but not in love, Bryn Seymour, meets a man full of strange ideas and conspiracies who knew her deceased mother and hints at a conspiracy involving her mother's death. Bryn was just a child when she lost her mother and emotions and hungers drive her to investigate this crazy man's theories. Along the way she meets another man who challenges her with things she fears far more than any physical stunt she's ever encountered, love and faith. Those of you who like charming, well-written, romantic encounters full of quirk and characters need to give this book a chance.

Serials and Scenarios ~ Will Color for a Free Book....

Coloring Contest

Need a fun activity for your kids, grand kids, nephews, nieces, or preschool class?

What better than a coloring page that shows them the importance of prayer!?

Have your kids return the colored page to us by 3/31/2010 for the opportunity to WIN over 10 WaterBrook Multnomah children's books!

Here's how to enter/participate:

1. Enter the contest here by March 30, 2010
2. Once you enter, you'll be given a link to download a PDF of the coloring sheet
3. Print the coloring sheet out on any computer printer
4. Have your kids color the sheet
5. Mail the sheet to:

WaterBrook Press
Attn: Coloring Contest
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80921

We look forward to seeing your kid's amazing coloring pages!

View contest rules here.