What's on my Mind: Kindergarten & the Future of My Blog

Christian Fiction Blog turns five years next month. I am very excited, but at the same time concerned. I love this blog and the communities that have developed from it. I thank God for not just meeting, but befriending some of the brightest Christian writing talents in publishing. And then here's the rub...

Last fall I began providing publicity support to take help me with my financial shortfalls(you know my past and stuff.) The lil comp to my surprise grew. Authors, bookstores, and recording labels come to me through referrals inquiring about my services. I'm honored.

I've taken on some clients and have some potential ones on hold. My bottom line is dismal, because most of the money goes back into dues, paid services, marketing and maintenance. I thank God the blog and DGP pays for itself.

But...

I miss my friends. They don't talk or interact with me about me much now. Outside of the occasional gossip someone passes onto me regarding me I'm out my own loop.

And I didn't sign up for that. I want to take care of my child. I want to write. I want to beat this heart failure, COPD, and all the other things that robbed me of the future I thought I had. I just want peace. Pray for me.

Thanks so much for visiting here often. If you think this blog and our community has been beneficial to you, if you think the advice I give is valuable, let me know. If there are some topics, authors, features you would like for me to share more of, then let me know that, too. And if you think this blog suck rocks, then let me know. I don't have the heart for drama within my Christian sisters and brothers.

Also pray for the Laura Ling and Eula Lee family as they endure their daughter's trials in North Korea.

- Dee

Home wins the Orange Prize

Marilynne Robinson has won the Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel “Home,” a follow-up to Pulitzer Prize winner, Gilead. The Orange Prize is the British award, given annually for the best novel written by a woman in English.

When we talk about wanting compelling, well-written books with a Christian worldview Marilyn Robinson accomplishes it every time. Congratulations, Marilynne.

Similar Posts on this Topic:

• Best of 2008: Robinson's Home

• Gilead wins 2005 Pulitzer

• Trailer Park: Marilynn Robinson's Home

• My Review of Gilead

Check the sidebar for more information on HOME.

Summer Reading Challenge: 2 Random Reads

Today I'm spotlighting a collective for our summer reading challenge.You can pop both books in a cute summer tote and take to the beach for the weekend. Enjoy.

Book: Saints in Limbo

Author: River Jordan

Summary:

Ever since her husband Joe died, Velma True’s world has been limited to what she can see while clinging to one of the multicolored threads tied to the porch railing of her home outside Echo, Florida.

When a mysterious stranger appears at her door on her birthday and presents Velma with a special gift, she is rattled by the object’s ability to take her into her memories–a place where Joe still lives, her son Rudy is still young, unaffected by the world’s hardness, and the beginning is closer than the end. As secrets old and new come to light, Velma wonders if it’s possible to be unmoored from the past’s deep roots and find a reason to hope again.

Author Bio:

River Jordan is a critically acclaimed novelist and playwright whose unique mixture of southern and mystic writing has drawn comparisons to Sarah Addison Allen, Leif Enger, and Flannery O’Connor. Her previous works include The Messenger of Magnolia Street, lauded by Kirkus Reviews as “a beautifully written, atmospheric tale.” She speaks around the country and makes her home in Nashville.

Book: Stealing Home

Author: Allison Pittman

Dates: June 1^st – 5^th

Summary:

It’s 1905 and the Chicago Cubs are banking on superstar Donald “Duke” Dennison’s golden arm to help them win the pennant. Only one thing stands between Duke and an unprecedented ten thousand dollar contract: alcohol.

That’s when sportswriter David Voyant whisks Duke to the one-horse town of Picksville, Missouri, so he can sober up in anonymity. He bides his time flirting with Ellie Jane Voyant, his unofficial chaperone, who would rather hide herself in the railway station ticket booth than face the echoes of childhood taunts.

Ned Clovis, the feed store clerk, has secretly loved Ellie Jane since childhood, but he loves baseball and the Duke almost as much–until he notices Ellie Jane may be succumbing to the star’s charm.

Then there’s Morris, a twelve-year-old Negro boy, whose only dream is to break away from Picksville. When Duke discovers his innate talent for throwing a baseball, Morris might just have found his way out.

Four individuals, each living in haunted isolation, each harboring a secret passion. Providence brings them together. Tragedy threatens to tear them apart. Will love be enough to bring them home?

Author Bio:

Allison Pittman spent seventeen years as a high school English teacher, and then shunned the advice of “experts,” quit her day job and set out to write novels that bring glory to God. She relishes inspiring other writers and leading the theater arts group at her church. She and her husband and three sons live in Universal City, Texas.