Checking Out The Seekers

The Seekers is an awesome blog for unpublished writers. If you're on your way to being published, this is a good site to use. Scour the archives. Subscribe to the blog so you can get the posts emailed to you.

This week, their posts have included tips on revising, on characterization, on being a critique partner, and comparing being a marine to being an author.

I lurk and glean from those who have more experience than I do. The blog authors get pretty friendly on the comments by offering refreshments occasionally. Fun!

Run over to their site and get to know them: Janet Dean, Cara Slaughter, Ruth Logan Herne, Sandra Leesmith, Debby Giusti, Missy Tippens, Mary Connealy, Pam Hillman, Audra Harders, Tina M. Russo, Myra Johnson, Cheryl Wyatt, Glynna Kaye, Camy Tang, and Julie Lessman.

Whom Do You Love?

Love, adoration, worship. They all mean basically the same thing. It is something we give only to a select few.

How do we choose the ones we worship? Does our filtering system decide whom we should love based on who benefits us the most?

Most of the time, we love because someone else showed us love. We love parents who loved us. We loved friends and spouses who started off the relationship with gifts of love.

When we recognize that our every breath is given to us out of love by the one we hardly ever speak to, we can turn from our neglect and build up a habit of showing love to God.

He loves without remorse. He loves in the truest and fullest way. He still loves even when we don't. So we should return the affection. We should spend time thinking about Him and talking to Him. We should attempt to love like He loves.

To read more on this topic, check out my Seek God With Me blog.

Peace of Mind

Fear is all in your mind.

Fear is not a response related to whether something actually has the ability to cause harm. If we don't believe something can harm us, we're not afraid of it.

Who is afraid of a marshmallow or a pencil eraser? Only the people who believe those things have the power to harm them.

People can fear things that aren't dangerous and can walk uninhibited up to something they should be afraid of.

Today's post on my Seek God With Me blog discusses a way to live without fear. Having peace of mind is valuable in this society.

Lady For A Day, 1933

It's time to grab the popcorn, and find out what a mother would go through for her daughter in this lovely 1930s film.

For years, destitute Apple Annie has written to her daughter who lives in Spain. In her letters, Annie wrote beautiful lies about being a member of New York’s high society. But now she’s sad because her daughter is coming to visit.

Annie’s daughter wants her to meet the man who has asked to marry her. However, her fiancĂ© and his father are members of Spain’s aristocracy. Not only will Annie be an embarrassment to her daughter if she found out the truth, but the Count will not give his blessing to the marriage.

Dave the Dude wants to help Annie since she’s his good luck charm. Annie’s friends come to the rescue and help her pretend to be rich during her daughter’s visit. They dress her up and fake a society event, but things don’t go according to plan.

With the fabulous May Robson playing Apple Annie, Warren William as Dave the Dude, and Glenda Farrell as Missouri Martin, director Frank Capra was able to tell the story of these lovable characters through a very talented cast. Capra went so far as to put several Los Angeles beggars in small roles to add authenticity.

Columbia tried unsuccessfully to get W. C. Fields from Paramount to play Judge Blake. The role went to Guy Kibbee who was also in Mr. Smith goes to Washington as Gov Hubert “Happy” Hopper.

This highly recommended Capra film captured four Oscar nominations: Best Actress, Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing, Adaptation.

Wading Into The Deep

Do you live near an ocean?

I live near the Gulf of Mexico. When I’m at the beach, I can wade in the shallow waters and look across the horizon at the water that never seems to end. The water reminds me of God. It’s enormous and filled with life.

I don’t have any beachfront property, but if I did, I’d sit outside everyday and listen to the waves sing to me. The calm voice of the foamy water surging in it’s own rhythm soothes me. It has an eternal whisper.

If only we could understand the language of the waves.

The Gulf of Mexico was a part of the earth long before I was. The Bible tells us it isn’t eternal. There will be a new earth eventually.

But for now, its longevity anchors me, steadies me, and makes me think of God.

Is there something in your life that brings out the eternal in your conversation? What is eternal in your life?

This is a good place to start when you want to talk about deep things with your kids.

The habit of meaningful conversation will help your efforts to better your relationships with your kids or anyone you love. To aid in getting started, Mary DeMuth has made available a package of 150 conversation starters as a download for $5.”

Check out the FREE STUFF page on Mary’s website where you can find NINE FREE STARTERS.

The Wise Seek Wisdom

On today's Seek God With Me blog post, I've shared a scripture that encourages us to use a little common sense.

Sometimes we know more than our lives show. Mistakes happen. We sometimes find ourselves slapping our heads while muttering, "I knew better than to do that." And then we do the same thing again.

We don't always act on the wisdom we have. But we can get off that merry-go-round and begin to walk in God's wisdom.

The book of Proverbs in the Bible is full of God's wisdom. Some of it is easy for anyone to understand and some are riddles which have to be studied to be figured out. There are challenges for everyone.

The biggest challenge seems to be getting people to read them.

To find out which of the proverbs I've commented on, check out SeekGodWithMe.blogspot.com

Profanity in Fiction

Yesterday, Jeff Gerke posted part two of his interesting opinion regarding the necessity of profanity in fiction. Gerke, a Keep Me In Suspense blog team member, wrote part one of his profanity message on April 21.

I totally agree with these articles. If you write fiction, you'll want to read them.

There is more to an argument than cussing. There are other ways to manage the pain of accidentally hammering your thumb than screaming a not very creative expletive. I like seeing the bad guy being bad - without all the unnecessary dialogue. Many villains are scarier with their mouths shut.

Thanks, Jeff. I look forward to your next post.

I'm A Sports Car

If you could be a sports car, which sports car would you be?


I took a quiz and was told that I'm a Mercedes SLK. I'm okay with that. LOL! Here's the picture for those of you who, like me, enjoy nice cars.



I'm a Mercedes SLK!



You appreciate the finer things in life. You have a split personality - wild or conservative, depending on your mood. Wherever you go, you like to travel first class. Luxury, style, and fun - who could ask for more?


Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.