My Dr. Seuss Poem Attempt: The Land of Newt

In honor of Dr. Seuss' 108 Birthday, here's my attempt of a Seussian poem that would fit today's current social climate.

I live in the land of Newt.
He's not cute, but a sad ol' hoot.
Who comes around, to scare the town,
about the owl who coos with a flute.

Friday First Peek: INTO THE FREE

Good news for David C Cook Publishers. Julie Cantrell’s INTO THE FREE has had a great debut. It has sat on the top 100 paid best-sellers lists at Amazon.com, Kindle and Barnes & Noble.  Here’s an excerpt:

CHAPTER 1
March 1936

A long black train scrapes across Mr. Sutton’s fields. His horses don’t bother lifting their heads. They aren’t afraid of the metal wheels, the smoking engine. The trains come every day, in straight lines like the hems Mama stitches across rich people’s pants. Ironing and sewing, washing and mending. That’s what Mama does for cash. As for me, I sit in Mr. Sutton’s trees, live in one of Mr. Sutton’s cabins, sell Mr. Sutton’s pecans, and dream about riding Mr. Sutton’s horses, all in the shadow of Mr. Sutton’s big house.

“He owns the whole planet. Every inch and acre. From sea to shining sea!” I lean over the branch of my favorite sweet gum tree and yell my thoughts down to Sloth, my neighbor. His cabin is next to ours in the row of servants’ quarters on Mr. Sutton’s place. Three small shotgun shacks with rickety porches and leaky roofs. Ours is Cabin two, held tight by the others that squat like bookends on either side. All three are packed so close together I could spit and hit any of them.

Sloth kneels in the shade around the back corner of Cabin one. He is digging night crawlers for an afternoon trip to the river. With wrinkled hands, he drops a few thick worms into a dented can of dirt and says, “he don’t own the trains.”

I can only guess where the boxcars are going and where they’ve been. I pretend they carry “limber lions, testy tigers, and miniature horses wearing tall turquoise hats.” It says that in Fables and Fairy Tales, the tattered book Mama used to read to me until I learned to read by myself.

I count cars as the train roars past. Fifteen … nineteen.

“Where you think it’s going?” I ask Sloth.

“Into the free,” he says, dropping another long, slick worm into the can and standing to dust dirt from his pants.

He limps back to his porch, slow as honey. About six years back, he shot clear through his own shoe while cleaning his hunting rifle. Left him with only two toes on his right foot. He’s walked all hunched over and crooked ever since. He started calling himself an old sloth, on account of having just two toes. The name stuck, and even though Mama still calls him Mr. Michaels, I can’t remember ever calling him anything but Sloth.

I keep counting to twenty-seven cars and watch the train until its tail becomes a tiny black flea on the shoulder of one of Mr. Sutton’s pecan trees. Seventeen of those trees stand like soldiers between the cabins and the big house, guarding the line between my world and his. It’s a good thing Mr. Sutton doesn’t care much for pecans. He lets me keep the money from any that I sell.

I watch the train until it disappears completely. I don’t know what Sloth thinks free looks like, but I imagine it’s a place where nine-year-old girls like me aren’t afraid of their fathers. Where mothers don’t get the blues. Where Mr. Sutton doesn’t own the whole wide world.

March 2012 ITW DEBUT AUTHOR BOOK RELEASE PARTY

Happy Thriller Thursday. Over at International Thriller Writers (ITW's THE THRILL BEGINS we are having a virtual book release party for our debut authors who have releases this month. Lissa Prices Starters(Delacorte) and Owen Laukkanen THE PROFESSIONALS (Putnam) have spinetinglers you may enjoy. Come celebrate with us. http://thethrillbegins.blogspot.com/2012/03/march-2012-itw-debut-authors.html

Rhonda Bowen featured on the Cover of Christian Fiction Online Magazine

The February 2012 Library Journal features the Christian fiction genre with a spotlight article, “Christian Fiction: A Born-Again Genre.” One of the authors mentioned is Kensington Books author Rhonda Bowen. Rhonda’s spotlight is special because she does not write for a Christian publisher. As the genre grows, acquisitions of these works by secular publishers have grown, especially for multicultural authors. This month Christian Fiction Online Magazine chatted with Bowen about her upcoming release, One Way or Another.

Click here to read more.

New Book Release: Neta Jackson Stand By Me

Happy March!

Neta Jackson has a new novel, STAND BY ME. Here’s the details:

Sometimes you learn the most from the person least like you.

Avis Douglass and her husband, Peter, have dreamed of selling his software business to finance a two-year mission effort to South Africa. But when the economy crashes, they're suddenly faced with the real possibility of bankruptcy.

When one of the co-pastors of SouledOut Community Church passes away suddenly, Avis and Peter are asked to step in and assist with the leadership of the church in the interim. But that creates an all-black leadership, fanning some subtle racial issues in their multi-cultural church. As tensions mount, they wrestle with returning to a traditional church where things would be easier.

Meanwhile, Kate Blanchard arrives in urban Chicago with three friends. Their vision of radically following Jesus-from dressing in second-hand clothing to trying to live green-only adds to the unrest at SouledOut Community Church. When Kate attaches herself to Avis as a mentor, her good heart but lack of wisdom drives Avis nuts.

Before long, though, they'll both realize that the body of Christ needs all parts-and Avis will see that she needs Kate's joy in following Jesus as much as Kate needs Avis's wisdom.

Click here to own.

Day 7: Uncovering More of You

Psalm 45

My heart is stirred by a noble theme
   as I recite my verses for the king;
   my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.(1)

.Father,

Thank you for waking me up. Thank you for waking me up on time. Thank you for rest, rejuvenation, prioritizing, and making room for you.

One of my Lent activities this year is to declutter my life. I made a list of five things I would clean out during lent:

1. my car trunk
2. my email inbox
3. my closet
4. my room
5. my bathroom drawer

As I began to remove things that have no room in my life anymore I found myself removing obligations, associations, rules that shut love out…I began to declutter my soul.

Thank you.

Writing to God Day 4: Thanks for my Gift of Writing

“…my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”- Phil 4:10-20

Father, thank you for today. Thank you for my family taking care of me today and thank you for the gift of writing. Most times I forget that this is a gift. You could have given someone else this love to write. You could have given another author a publishing contract. This past year you gave me that gift. I thank you for it. The gifts that have come along with this gift have afforded me to be able to take care of many of my medical costs, my daughters birthdays, back to school supplies, her wants and needs. That would not have happened if it were not for this gift. I also thank you for putting people in my life who respect and champion this gift. I wanted to thank two of them personally today. I had big plans to do it. Yet, my body demanded more rest to heal. I felt bad about not doing all the things that I want to do and then I felt even worse for not being thankful for what I do have. You. All that is good is you. I know you took care of my friends for me today. That is another gift you do so well for me. I pray that writing to you will help someone else recognize the gifts You have given to them.

Again thanks. This year I will be a better writer.