#SHINEBeyond in 2020

For me, the year 2019 was a year of change, a year of pain and frustration, and a year of unexpected realizations in all areas of my life. To be able to say that I am thankful for everything 2019 brought me shows how far I’ve come.

As I look forward to 2020, I am encouraged by what I see!

This new year holds a lot of promise, and I intend to embrace it with all I am. I’ve already started implementing changes and making plans.

One of those many changes is for me to get back into blogging! Yes, I know. It’s been awhile. Consistency has not been my strong suit for a long time. However…that’s all going to change. (More on that later…)

For now, I plan to blog once a week on a topic related to either my #SHINEBeyond brand or fiction fun. In February, Starlight Reviews will start popping up a couple of times a month. So, the topics will probably alternate weeks then.

In March or April, I’ll add on a guest post once a week. I’m debating between bringing back Confessions of a… series or Character Conversations (from a LONG time ago, these posts were written by a character or characters from fiction). What do you think? Do you have a preference? Let me know in the comments!

My passion for helping others #SHINEBeyond has only grown in the last year. I want more than anything for readers to find encouragement and hope within these pages. I want them to find adventure and possibility, dreams and purpose, motivation and…maybe even a character or 2 from my novels that reminds them of themselves or someone they know.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey we call life this year–not only here on the blog, but across my social media profiles. I aim to share life’s ups and downs, nuggets of wisdom, and more of the beauty that lives in each of us.

Writers, follow me on Twitter.

Readers, follow me on Instagram! I’ll be changing up a lot this year with a mix of fun #bookstagram posts and encouragement.

Writers and Readers, follow me on Facebook! This is my best mix of content to inspire and encourage–with a mad dash of speculative fun.

Until next time, I pray you are uplifted by these words. I pray your passions will show through as you aim to #SHINEBeyond in 2020 with me!

What are you looking forward to most this year?

Celebrate my Blog-a-versary!

Today is the anniversary of my blog! I don’t recall exactly how long–3 years? Maybe. But what an exciting–and sometimes crazy–ride it’s been. From character interviews to writing/editing tips to today with the Confessions series and social media emphasis, blogging has been anything but boring.

I just wanted to say thank you to all you lovely people who’ve been with me on this journey. Followers from the old days and people who have just joined the journey. There’s nothing more encouraging than to know that other people care. You all are the best. *hugs all around*

Blogging has not been without its own set of issues. My website was hacked once, and I lost all my previous blog posts. All those fun character interviews–gone. I had some pretty crazy issues with my previous website host, which resulted in a downed website and ultimately me switching providers. Earlier this year, a buggy plugin made it impossible for me to even get into my WordPress dashboard to blog. But my new trusty website host fixed it for me.

But that’s all in the past.

So what do we have to look forward to in the next year?

I’m continuing with the “Confessions” series for now. It’s been quite popular, and I think many of you readers find a little bit of yourselves in a lot of the posts. I know I do. I’m going to try to mix it up a bit, though, invite some non-writer people to share a bit about them and their lives. The point is to show how we all SHINE Beyond our circumstances.

I have at least 2 books coming out in the next year. So, there will definitely be a few posts about those along the way.

New to the blog, I’ll be posting about book marketing and social media, each on a separate Friday of the month. For the non-writer followers, I still think you might get something out of the social media posts, and you might just enjoy hearing about the insides of my book marketing journey.

I’m bringing back Tea with Me! For those who don’t know, these posts are an opportunity for YOU to ask me questions–about anything. Questions can be about me, my writing, life, science … anything! If I don’t know the answer, I’ll try to find it; if I can’t find it, I’ll make it up. It’s tons of fun. This is one of my favorites, and readers seem to enjoy READING the posts. But I’ll definitely need y’all to be sending me questions for this once-a-month post. I usually put out a call on Facebook for questions, so be sure to follow me there.

While I don’t send my blog posts out via email anymore, I do highlight popular articles in my monthly newsletter. Sign up below so you don’t miss a thing!

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Bellanok Sale

In addition to this week being my blog-aversary, it’s also my birthday week. And to celebrate, my fantasy novel, Bellanok, is on sale for 99 cents. That’s right. A fantasy adventure, right at your finger tips, for only 99 cents. Who’s ready to party? You can find more about Bellanok in the My Books tab!

 

Do you celebrate your birthday with any traditions?

Fab 5 Friday: Reboot!

DSC_0394_aIt’s been so great to actually get back into blogging. I’ve missed having a workable schedule where I can write to you all on a more regular basis. Now, I’m excited to share all kinds of things with you over the next few months. Don’t miss out, sign up for my newsletter!

BLOG:

For those who are not aware, Fab 5 Friday is an opportunity for me to share with you 5 fabulous things that I’ve found, done, experienced, read, etc. I often share about books I’m reading, homeschooling experiences, quotes, new products, pictures. Whatever I feel is totally fabulous. Instead of trying to do it once a week, though, I’m cutting down to once a month!

Also, new to the blog is Novel News. At the end of each month, I’ll be sharing a slew of new releases for you to ooo and ah over. The majority will be speculative fiction, but as I believe in reading wide, I’ll be sure to throw some potentially interesting ones in from other genres. You can check out May’s Novel News!

Earlier this week, I debuted my summer experimental series, Confessions. Confessions, for now, is an opportunity for authors and other publishing professionals to share a little about themselves, their ups and downs, and their personalities. Desiree Williams shared the daydreaming, scatterbrain side of her in the first post. I’ve already started seeing some posts and ideas from other authors who have committed to the series this summer, and I can’t wait to share them with you.

 

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BOOKS:

Right now, I’m reading Acolyte by Keven Newsome. This is the long awaited, final book in his Winter trilogy. I have been bugging him for years, and now I just can’t get enough of the story. So. Good. I’m about 70% done, and hope to finish it up this weekend.

 

HOMESCHOOL:

Lately, as the public schools have released for the summer, people have been asking me if we do school year-round or if we take summer breaks as well. I’m proud to say that we do school year-round. Why? There are a few reasons:

  • I believe children retain more if you keep things consistent.
  • We do take breaks throughout the year (about every 6-8 weeks).
  • It allows extra days for me to take off when I’m on deadline or when we want to travel.
  • It gets HOT in the summer. We can cool off and work on our studies at the same time.

Now, our schedule is a little different in the summer. Instead of following our Sonlight curriculum, we focus more on electives. And we still keep up on reading, spelling, and math.

MOVIES:

Jurassic Park: In case you didn’t know, the entire original Jurassic Park trilogy is on Netflix this summer! I finally got to share the first move with my kids earlier this week. They LOVED it. I actually worried it might be too scary for them, but with all our usual quips throughout even the scary parts, they were fine. One of my daughters kept making T-Rex jokes, pretending she had short arms.

Gods of Egypt: This recently came out on DVD. Yay! It had an interesting and different take on Egyptian mythology. It was full of action with enough depth of story to engage the softer side of me. Bec was definitely my favorite character–passion and purpose. I thought the CG was well done. If you don’t mind movies/book with non-Christian gods in it, you might like this one.

RANDOM:

I found this amazing version of Let It Go on YouTube. The kids and I can watch it over and over again! Enjoy!

What summer blockbusters are you looking forward to? 

LEAVE A COMMENT FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A $10 AMAZON GIFT CARD!

Blog Launch and Sweepstakes!

file0001024202589Oh goodness! It feels odd to be typing up a post for MY blog again. A warning to all you good people out there: if you have a website, make sure you have a backup somewhere. This isn’t just for your files, people. Your entire website should be backed up. Don’t know how? Contact your webmaster or web-hosting company, they can tell you.

Back to the FUN!

May was quite the exciting month for me.

  • I celebrated my birthday!
  • I semi-finaled in the ACFW Genesis contest.
  • I bought a new van.
  • I ran a birthday sale for my editing and social media services and found a few new clients I am excited to work with.
  • I reached 5,000 followers on Twitter and 1,500 followers on my Facebook page.
  • The couple that designed my website last year helped me to fix my new website so I can now relaunch everything! (Need website help, go visit Master Design Solutions!)

I’m so tickled that my birthday month was such a success, that I don’t even mind that allergies had me down for half of it and then had me scrambling to get work done before the end of the month.

I’m even more grateful for all the love and support you all have shown me over the last couple of years. 

Even though May is gone, I’m still in the mood to celebrate. What better reason to celebrate than all of you guys? So it’s my turn to give back to YOU.

BLOG LAUNCH AND SWEEPSTAKES

So, here’s the deal:

One person will receive a FULL COPYEDIT on one of their projects

AND

Another person will receive a $50 Amazon Gift Card

To be eligible, you must sign up for my newsletter! (Anyone already on the newsletter list will be given 1 entry.)

 

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You can earn an additional entry by leaving a blog comment, telling me where in the writing process you are and what you hope to accomplish in your writing before the end of 2015.

You can also earn an additional entry by filling out the quick survey below. (Leave a blog comment letting me know you filled out the survey!) If you can’t see the survey, click here to take it.
Create your own user feedback survey

The sweepstakes will run from today (Monday, June 1) thru Friday, June 5. I will announce the winner on Monday, June 8.