THE RENEWAL by TERI KRAUS: Sometimes restoration has to begin in the heart

THE RENEWAL:Midlands Building: A Project Restoration Novel

Leslie Ruskin, single mom to five-year-old Ava, is the new owner of the historic Midlands Building in Butler, Pennsylvania’s reviving downtown. After her devastating divorce, she’s come to town in hopes of starting a new life. Her plan is to live in one of the second-floor apartments in the building, and rent out the first floor—a large commercial space with stunning architectural details. But the building’s interior needs renovation to attract a tenant.
Jack Kenyon, who is also starting over in Butler and beginning his own construction business, seems to be the perfect man for the job, with his experience in restoration. He trained with one of the best in the business—Ethan Willis—on the crew of the renowned Carter Mansion in Franklin, Pennsylvania. He may be a master carpenter, but he’s struggling to master his own demons. Haunted by loneliness, his past failures, and the lost relationship with his own young daughter, Jack finds it hard to maintain his sobriety. The one bright area of his life is being hired by Leslie to renovate her building.

As Leslie tries to provide a stable life for little Ava, she struggles to manage her anxiety and sustain her equilibrium. She is hopeful as Jack begins to work his magic, then thrilled when she rents the first floor of her building to the Adams—a chic young couple who are Butler natives and experienced restauranteurs in Pittsburgh. The Adams want to be part of their hometown’s revitalization, and find the historic Midlands Building to be the perfect place for their exciting new venture. Once a run-down locksmith shop, the space has secrets of its own. As it is transformed into a vibrant café/bistro, the relationship between Leslie and Jack becomes the catalyst in the difficult journey they both must take toward spiritual renewal. And in the process, the secrets of the locksmith shop, as well as the love Jack and Leslie so desperately need, are unlocked

MEET TERI KRAUS:

After eleven co-authored books with husband, Jim, Terri Kraus has added her award-winning interior designer’s eye to her world of fiction. She comes to the Project Restoration series naturally, having survived the remodel, renovation, and restoration of three separate personal residences, along with those of her clients. She makes her home in Wheaton, Illinois, USA, with her husband, son, Elliot, miniature schnauzer, Rufus, and Siberian cat, Petey.

Along with her interior design consultation work, Terri has been the director of women’s ministries at her church for the past six years and is a perennial room mom. She loves to read, and her Book Club is in its 11th year. Of particular interest to the group is books about women in other cultures. When she’s not writing or reading, Terri enjoys photography, quilting and knitting, cooking and baking, and she loves exploring the city of Chicago with her family. Terri has traveled extensively throughout Europe, the South Pacific and the Caribbean. Favorite places are New Zealand and the British Isles, but, being 100% Italian, she feels most at home in Italy, and is passionate about all things Italian. She has studied the language for many years, and dreams of living in Italy for at least six months—”to get really fluent.” Her current work in progress is the story of an Italian-American woman set mainly in Italy during World War 2, which reflects her love of researching and writing historical fiction.

Terri is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers.

THE ECHO WITHIN: Sometimes to find our true calling, we have to be willing to lose the one we have

Note from Christa: With the subtitle of Finding Your True Calling, I expected Robert Benson’s book THE ECHO WITHIN to be one of those spiritually introspective [navel-gazing, as my agent calls it] tomes disguised as a this-could-fit-in-my-pocket gift book. But, if I already stood on solid ground as far as my own true calling, I wouldn’t be asking to review books about how to find it. This book is different, and Robert’s voice is clear, so much so that I could imagine him talking to me over coffee. His words have the same effect on me as my yoga class. They cause me to stretch, to pay attention to myself and my weight in the world, and to allow myself the luxury of quietness, even in the midst of chaos.

The Echo Within by Robert Benson is a profoundly affecting, honest look at the myriad ways we are drawn into our life’s best work.

Written out of his own lifelong search for and response to the calling voice of God, Benson recounts his discovery of the meaning of vocation, work, and purpose through the ups and downs inherent in family life, professional choice, and spiritual experience. With clarity and insight, and in the elegant prose for which he is known, he gently invites and encourages readers to find such deep truths for their lives as well. In particular, he illuminates the way for readers to explore:

• ways to sense the Holy in our pursuits, both in the pursuits themselves and within ourselves.
• how to fall into our vocation and chart a course toward it at the same time.
• how to love the work we do, and the process of doing it.

For anyone beginning a new career or sensing a needed change in their life or wrestling with a transition suddenly thrust upon them, Robert Benson delivers wisdom, humor, and heart in what he’s learned about listening for The Echo Within-and how it can help us discover our calling.

Frequently Asked Questions:Writing

Where do you get your ideas?
Second things first. On a few occasions, a publisher has asked me to write a specific sort of book, and so I have.
But generally, and most often, I find myself writing about the things that catch my eye or my ear, the things that quicken my spirit in some way, the things that seem to be calling to me at a particular moment in time.
Some particular thing will keep coming up in conversations with people for weeks and months, or a bit of a question will keep turning up in my journal for a few weeks or months, and I will begin to see stories that I want to tell that connect to that thing. I will start to write the stories themselves, and along the way, I will begin to discover what it is that I am actually writing about.

How long does it take for you to write a book?
It takes about a year most of the time. Some books go a little faster and others a little slower, but this is a rough sketch of the pattern.
I spend about four months writing what I refer to as the ‘hand draft.’ I call it that because because I write it by hand. Then it takes about two months to type and edit and rewrite what I have written so that it is in good enough shape to show anyone.
The next step is to send it off to the fine folks who will edit it and publish it, and that gives me a couple of months or so away from it. When it comes back, I generally have a month or so to rewrite it according to the notes and suggestions that they have made.
It goes to the copy editors from there and they usually have it for a month. Then I get it back and have about a month to make the changes that have to be made.
By the time that it is finished I have written it five or six times.

Do you have a particular time that you like to write?
I like to be up and in my studio with my second cup of coffee between four and five every morning. I like to write when my mind is clear and the world is quiet. The longer the day goes on, the more distractions there are. I try to be finished with the writer part of being a writer by nine or so. By then, the business part of being a writer has snuck in under the studio door and there are telephone calls and letters and such that have to be done, and I find that I usually cannot write any more that day.

Do you use a computer or do you write by hand?
I write the first draft by hand in little sketchbooks. It makes me go slower. Writing fast, at least for me, leads to bad writing. In fact, once I have typed it all in and have a clean hard copy, I actually paste it into a sketchbook and do the next three rewrites by hand as well.
My idea of a hardware upgrade is a fresh bottle of ink.

Do you use an outline to plot everything out before you write?
Usually I start with little more than two or three stories that I think I want to tell because they seem to be related to some thing I have been wondering about. Or I have a question that has come to me that seems to point to something that matters and those stories seem to be connected to the question.
I begin by telling those stories to myself, on paper, to see if the story begins to tell me what it means. After a few stories, I have a sense of what the other stories might be, and the thing begins to take shape. When the stories are told, then I can sit down and shift them around and make an outline so that I know what I am actually writing.

How did you decide to become a writer?
I grew up in a family of writers and poets and letter writers and artists and musicians of one kind or another. And our family owned a publishing business that I worked in for some ten years or so, spending most of my time around creative people. At our house, a kid who wanted to be a writer was encouraged to try it.
When I was thirteen or so, my father brought a young singer-songwriter to stay at our house while he was in town to record an album. I got to go back and forth to the studio for the sessions and when it was time to release the album, they asked me to write the liner notes. When the record came out, I took one look at my name in print and I was hooked. It took a long time before I was able to be a writer full time, but that was the beginning of it.

Who is your greatest influence as a writer?
In the beginning, it was my father, who was a fine storyteller and speaker and writer himself.
Next, it was a crowd of poets – Wordsworth, Coleridge, and later Rilke and Gibran. I still reread Wordsworth’s Preface to Lyrical Ballads and Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet and some of Gibran’s work several times a year. The things that they wrote about the poet’s place in the world and the work a poet is called to do never fails to make me want to stand up and salute something. It also makes me want to sit down and write something.
Finally, I was introduced to the work of Annie Dillard and Frederick Buechner and Thomas Merton. They are the guiding lights for me as a writer. I spend most of my days trying to write one sentence that would be so good that you could slip it into one of their books and no one would notice that it had been written by someone else.

If you were not a writer, what would you be?
Several cheeky answers come immediately to mind – even more lost than I am; even less worthy to have space on the planet than I am now; a man without a web site.
Seriously – though I was more serious about the above answers than you might expect – I sometimes wish that I was a baseball coach and a teacher. I also have a hankering sometimes to be in the restaurant business, which seems a little odd. Evidently there is a genetic reason for this, I have two sons who cook in two very fine local restaurants.
Poet is a large word to me – it includes painters and singers and photographers and essayists and novelists and landscapers, as far as I am concerned. I was made to be a poet and if I had grown up under the influence of something other than the printed page, I would have ended being a poet still, just working in another medium.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
I was taught that a writer has three jobs : Learn the craft. Find your voice. Discover what is that you have to say that no one else can say.

The last one takes time and miles and experience. It is a thing that one grows into, by and large, and is best discovered not only by writing but by living one’s life at some degree of attention for the things that catch your eye and your ear and your spirit.

Finding your voice takes time as well. It takes a considerable pile of pages to begin to know what is truly yours and what is not.
The first one is the only thing that you can actually do to help with either of the above. To paraphrase the advice from Michelangelo to a young artist, ‘Write, Antonio, write. Write and do not waste time.’

Write every day. Write whatever is given you to write with all the art and craft you can muster. Watch the faces of your readers and listeners when you can, the look on their face will tell you if you have turned the phrase or not. Take any job that anyone offers you that will pay you to learn the craft.

Read only good writing, never bad. If you can write better work than the the work that is in what you are reading, stop reading it. Read Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke and The Writing Life by Annie Dillard as often as is necessary to keep your spirits up. They are preaching to the choir but that is the best way to get the choir to stand up and sing. Or sit down and write. And writing is the only way to become a writer.

Do you have any advice for people who have a full time job and want to write full time?
Pick a time of day and a place where you can write. Tell everyone that you have to tell that these moments are for writing and nothing else. Lock the door, hang a sign on the window, barricade yourself in. Write a few hundred words each day, no more, no less. And do it every day.
Writers produce sentences. If you are not producing sentences, and then paragraphs, and then books, you are not a writer, you are a dabbler. Which is not a bad thing, but it is a good thing that you already have a job.

READ MORE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS HERE

ROBERT’S BLOG: www.thelongpew.com

A CENTURY OF MAGIC: Don’t miss DISNEY ON ICE

As family activities become increasingly electronic and wholesome family entertainment options become more scarce, appropriate alternatives that families can enjoy together are ever more appealing. Feld Entertainment’s Disney On Ice live touring performances feature iconic Disney stories, characters, and music, providing audiences with a high quality, fun experience the whole family can enjoy together. For these reasons, Mom Central has partnered with Disney On Ice to provide a special family ticket package offer.

Interactive Disney On Ice shows feature exciting action, romance, comedy, athletic world-class skating, beloved Disney characters, and favorite Disney songs to which kids can sing and dance along. Their rich colors, costumes, bigger than life atmosphere, music, lighting, choreography and humor all contribute to making the experience one that builds childhood and family memories for years to come.

In order to spread the word about these incredible shows and provide discounts to families nationwide, Mom Central and Feld Entertainment®, the parent company for Disney On Ice as well as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey®, have established the Feld Family Activator program. If you or someone you know qualifies as an Influential Mom in your community, you could be selected to win a free family four pack of tickets to all of the 2009 Disney On Ice and Ringling Bros. shows that come to your local city. Those selected will also be invited to a special VIP event to meet other area Mom Influencers. If interested, or if you would like to nominate another Mom Influencer, please fill out the sign-up sheet here. If selected to become a Feld Family Activator, Mom Central will be in touch soon. Otherwise, you automatically become a Feld Family Mom and will be entered to win a free family four pack of tickets for each show that comes to your area throughout the year.

In addition to the opportunity to become a Feld Family Activator or Feld Family Mom, we are excited to extend the following special family offers:

·    Offer #1: Get 4 tickets for just $44 by entering the code “MOM” at select ticketing channels*. Offer good on all performances, minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each. Offer not valid on Gold Circle Seating, Front Row and VIP seating or combinable with other offers. Other restrictions may apply.
·    Offer #2: A select amount of Front Row and VIP seats have been reserved for you to buy before they go on sale to the public – just enter the code “MOM” when purchasing those seats.

Dates and cities where families can use the national MOM code are as follows:

Houston
Disney On Ice presents Mickey and Minnie’s Magical Journey
April 15-April 19

Dallas/Ft Worth
Disney On Ice presents Mickey & Minnie’s Magical Journey
March 18-March 29

Sunrise/Miami
Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy
March 26-April 5

Toronto
Disney On Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy
March 18-March 22

Kansas City
Disney On Ice presents Mickey & Minnie’s Magical Journey
April 1-April 5

Denver
Disney On Ice presents a Disneyland® Adventure
March 12-March 15

Phoenix
Disney On Ice presents a Disneyland® Adventure
April 9-April 12

Chicago/Rosemont
Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic
Sept 8-Sept 13

To learn more about Disney On Ice shows touring the country this year, visit http://disney.go.com/disneyonice/ and visit ticketmaster.com to use the 4 tickets for $44 code, MOM.

LOVE FINDS YOU. . .even in LAST CHANCE

Note from Christa: Generally, I’m not attracted to novels whose covers picture horses or people riding horses unless those people and/or horses appear absolutely panicked in an utterly laughable way. Nor am I prone to reading novels featuring ranchers or wranglers. But, when Miralee Ferrell announced the release of Love Finds You in Last Chance, California, I agreed to review it despite the horses and the ranchers. Why? Because I’d featured Miralee’s novel, The Other Daughter, and she hooked me on that one; certainly she deserved a chance! I actually read her Author’s Note first [okay, a confession...I often read the end first], and was immediately intrigued by the fact that California really has a town called Last Chance. Well, as Miralee says, “. . .a ghost town with only one small shack and a cemetery. . .”  The Prologue sealed the deal, and I settled in to follow Alex on her journey. I hope you will, too.

LOVE FINDS YOU in LAST CHANCE, CALIFORNIA

Two people trying to make it on their own must work together to save what they both love… It’s 1877 and just before Alexia Travers’ father died, he mortgaged his land in exchange for gold to buy more horses. But when no gold is found, Alexia is left with a heavily encumbered ranch and no man to lean on. Not that she wants one: despite several offers, the feisty brunette has no interest in marriage. Instead, she dons men’s clothing and rides the range, determined to make the ranch a success on her own.

Justin Phillips arrives in the town of Last Chance, California, with a young son he cannot care for by himself. When he applies for a job on Travers Ranch, Alexia reluctantly accepts his help. Though the young woman can ride, shoot, rope, and break young colts, she is irritated to learn that Justin can do everything just a shade better!

When disaster threatens the Travers’ Ranch, Alexia and Justin must work together to save someone they both love. Can these two independent people learn to depend on God…and each other?

Buy the book on Amazon.com or   Christianbook.com

Meet Miralee:

Miralee Ferrell heads the local chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers serving the Portland, Or-Vancouver, Washington area. Miralee is a published author in both women’s contemporary fiction and historical romance. She’s married and has two children, loves to garden, read, ride horses and sail with her husband of 35 years. Read more about her at: www.miraleeferrell.com

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
This fall, Summerside Press^TM will launch the LOVE FINDS YOU^TM fiction line, which features inspirational romance novels set in actual cities and towns across the United States. Beginning in 2009, we will release 12 titles per year.

The LOVE FINDS YOU^TM series gives readers a taste of local life across the United States. The novels-uniquely titled after actual American towns with quirky but intriguing names-inspire romance and fun. Each fictional story draws on the compelling history or the unique character of a real place. Stories center on romances kindled in small towns, old loves lost and found again on the high plains, and new loves discovered at exciting vacation getaways.

WELCOME KIM SMITH, author of AVENGING ANGEL

BOOK SUMMARY:
Shannon Wallace is having a bad hair week.
She’s been ditched by her job, dumped by her boyfriend, and implicated in his murder.
When she finds out her very private video collection is missing from the crime scene, it is all out war to find the disks before the cops do. The problem is, the killer has them. And he’s watched them.
Now Shannon’s at the top of his most wanted list.

Kim Smith was born in Memphis Tennessee, the youngest of four children. After a short stint in a Northwest Mississippi junior college, during the era of John Grisham’s rise as a lawyer, she gave up educational pursuits to marry and begin family life.

She has worked in many fields in her life, from fast food waitress to telephone sales. “I always got the seniors on the phone who were lonely and wanted someone to talk to. My boss couldn’t understand why in the world I spent so much time talking to them and not enough time selling. That was when I realized I love people and care deeply about their lives.”

After the birth of her two children, she gave up working outside the home for the more important domestic duties of wife and mother.  When her kids decided they wanted to pursue theater as an extracurricular activity, she gave up her free time to drive them to rehearsals, training classes, and plays. During those years, she found herself bored with nothing to do to while away the hours stuck in a car. She began thinking of stories to entertain herself and pass the time. Before long she started telling her husband about her stories and he assured her she could write a book if she really wanted to. She put the idea away once she landed a job as a network administrator for a small corporation, and together the Smith’s started their own video production company.

Writing was a dream, hidden but not forgotten, and soon Kim began to talk again of trying her hand at it. She played with words, and wrote several poems, one of which was picked up for an anthology

One day in the early nineties her husband came home with a desktop computer and sat her in front of it. “Now you have no more excuses,” he said, and she realized the truth in his words. Procrastination, now no longer an option, she took off on the pursuit of penning her first book.  Though that book, a young adult fantasy, was lost due to unforeseen circumstances, she kept going, writing a historical romance, and another YA.

When she decided to try out her hand at mystery writing, she discovered her true love and niche in the writing journey. She has since had four short stories, and her first mystery novel accepted for publication.

Kim is a member of Sisters in Crime, and EPIC. She still lives in the Mid South region of the United States and is currently working on her second book in the mystery series.

You can visit her website at www.mkimsmith.com.

GUEST POST: Motivate the Muse

Recently, I hosted a free workshop called Jumpstart the Muse. It was a lot of fun, and I think the attendees got something out of it. I figured what the heck, might as well tell you all what happened.

First, I had them give me a list of why they were there to take the workshop, and most all of them had some reasons that we all face. They were: absent inspiration, boredom, creative dementia, and detail under-load. In other words, they didn’t have the inspiration to make the perspiration.

I really think this is a common problem with us writers today. We work at so many things, and we desperately want to write, but when we sit down to get to it, we either get another interruption, or we just stare at the white screen and get depressed.

My workshop was designed to give writers the GOOD NEWS that they are not helpless in this situation. We are the motivation BEHIND the inspiration! We, literally speaking, are the MUSE.

So, some of you will not believe me, right? You’ll say, oh no, without my creative side working, I cannot write a word. Well, try this exercise and see if you still think so.

1.    Get yourself some index cards, of differing colors.
2.    On each color, write a word at the top, whatever you so desire, I did this and I wrote “Sounds” “Smells” “Touches” “Sights” “Tastes”-now that means I had five colors, and each color would represent each of these items. Now you try it, but you do not have to do what I did. Try for other stuff, like, “Romance” “Mystery” “Suspense” “Anger” “Sadness” or any other you would like.
3.    Now, that you have your collection of cards by color, start with one. Let’s assume you wrote “Anger” – now go out and think of a situation that made you so angry you could kill someone. Write that story on that card under ANGER. Did you feel the anger resurface? Reread what you wrote and be sure and make me, the reader, feel that anger just like you felt it. Did your face turn red? Did you cry? Make me mad!
4.    Okay, now, do something like that for each of those cards. If you wrote “Mystery” at the top, you might just simply say “The day my car died was a mystery to everyone.” It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It just has to tweak your thoughts for writing something.
5.    Once you have your cards, and your “muse tweaker” titles, go for it! Keep a card file for all your little thoughts and big thoughts. You never know when this will turn out to be something to use in a book, or as an article piece.

Oh yeah, and when you finish this exercise, try telling me you didn’t have anything to write!

The Greatest Show on Earth now has ZING ZANG ZOOM

Last year, Mom Central and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® teamed up to provide families across the country with a special opportunity to experience The Greatest Show On Earth®.  Our national survey found that 88% of Moms regarded Ringling Bros.® as a “not to be missed” childhood experience, and, from the enthusiastic feedback we received, we want to provide you with another special opportunity to see one of the three incredible, entirely different Ringling Bros. productions with your family.

The Mom Central team recently had the pleasure of checking out the newest production from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey in Orlando, FL and we were blown away by the energy, music, dancing and really outstanding illusions found in ZING ZANG ZOOM.  The show features magical Zingmaster Alex Ramon, who had us gasping in disbelief at the grand illusions that he performed, and the amazing interactive family experience merged with traditional circus acts was remarkable. It brought back the magic of the circus from our own childhoods and reminded us of the importance of passing down the lifetime memory and tradition of experiencing Ringling Bros. as a family to our children.

With the economy posing a challenge for many families, the value of a night out at Ringling Bros. is high, as the experience includes the All Access Pre-show, a fun opportunity to meet circus performers and dress up in clown costumes, which happens one hour before each performance.

Baby’s First Circus

Free Ticket for Baby’s First Circus^SMMoms and Dads! Children of All Ages!

Parenthood brings many wonderful firsts – your baby’s first tooth, your baby’s first steps… and of course, your Baby’s First Circus!

That’s why we created the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Baby’s First Circus SM program for parents and their newborns (up to 12 months old and living in the continental United States).

Sign Up Today and Receive:

• A free ticket voucher that can be exchanged for a free ticket to any Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey performance, anytime, anywhere. No expiration date!
• A very special personalized baby certificate, printable online!

Ringling Bros. celebrates children of all ages. Give a special gift to your older children – sign them up and they will receive a free personalized Ringling Bros. commemorative certificate.

Getting your free ticket voucher and personalized certificate is easy, so sign up today and prepare for a lifetime of fun with The Greatest Show On Earth®!

Click here for Baby’s First Circus eligibility requirements.

MOM CENTRAL is excited to extend the following special family offers:

·  Offer #1: Get 4 tickets for just $44 by entering the code “MOM” at select ticketing channels**. Offer good on all performances, minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each. Offer not valid on Circus Celebrity Seating, Front Row and VIP seating or combinable with other offers.  Other Restrictions May Apply.
·    Offer #2: A select amount of Front Row and VIP seats have been reserved for you to buy before they go on sale to the public – just enter the code “MOM” when purchasing those seats. Dates and cities where families can use the national MOM discount code this spring are as follows:

Newark/East Rutherford/Uniondale/NYC
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents ZING ZANG ZOOM
March 5 – April 13
Offer not valid on performances from April 10 – 13 at Madison Square Garden

Washington D.C./ Fairfax, VA/ Baltimore, MD
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® proudly presents Over The Top
March 18-April 19

Philadelphia
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents ZING ZANG ZOOM
May 13-May 25

Phoenix
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents ZING ZANG ZOOM
June 24-June 28

Houston
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® proudly presents Over The Top
July 15-July 26

Anaheim/LA/Ontario
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents ZING ZANG ZOOM
July 8-August 2

San Francisco
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents ZING ZANG ZOOM
August 12-August 23

Dallas/Ft Worth
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® proudly presents Over The Top
July 29-August 16

Sacramento
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® presents ZING ZANG ZOOM
August 27-August 30

Kansas City
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® proudly presents Over The Top
September 16-September 20

To find out more about ZING ZANG ZOOM or to see which Ringling Bros. tour is coming to a town near you, visit www.Ringling.com. And visit www.ticketmaster.com to use the 4 tickets for $44 code, MOM.

THE STRESS EATER DIET: stress less and lose more

Note from Christa: No problem answering this question. Then again, answering “yes” almost drove me straight to the Blue Bell Mardi Gras Ice Cream. I scored a 33 on the quiz. Anything over 19, start humming DANGER ZONE from Top Gun by Kenny Loggins. The book bills itself as a “simple guide.” It is. I also like that it’s not back-loaded with recipes for foods that are either unpronouncable or visually unappealing. Chapters include practical Stress Less Tips. I’d suggest, though, that the tip on page 162 about chronic stress causing “premature aging…with symptoms of weakened muscles, wrinkled skin, fading eyesight and hearing, failing organs…” move to the head of the class. Clearly, being overweight is struggle enough. But wrinkled skin. ..

Are you a Stress Eater?
With a crumbling economy, depressed real estate, foreclosures, plunging stock markets, job insecurity, credit card debt, political instability and uncertainty; stress levels in America are skyrocketing. For those that attempt to eat their stress away, The Stress Eater Diet is a simple guide for women who want to stress less, shed pounds and look great. To find out if you are a stress eater, take the free stress eater quiz.

The Stress Eater Diet’s Solution
Based on new published research, The Stress Eater Diet is a revolutionary program that can help rid you of stress and control your weight through a proven nutritional and simple exercise plan. It will reduce stress eating while balancing your mood and increasing your energy.

The Stress Eater Diet combines:
- Nutrition
- Stress Relieving Exercise
- Calming Techniques
- Serotonin boosting foods (activating calming mood sensors in the brain)

The Stress Eater Diet will transform your stress eating into healthy eating and to a lifestyle that helps you stress less, sheds pounds and energize your life..

About the Authors:
Robert Posner, M.D. is a board certified internal medicine physician and has been in private practice in the Northern Virginia area for over 20 years. Dr. Posner developed the Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Program, Washington, D.C.’s largest medically supervised weight loss/weight management program as a result of his ground breaking research into the effects of serotonin on weight loss.

Learn more about Robert at http://www.stresseaterdiet.com.

Linda Hlivka
With over 20 years of experience, Ms. Hlivka has been the nutritionist for the Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Program for almost 6 years. Linda graduated from Douglass College, Rutgers University with a B.S. in Human Nutrition and Foods and from Regis University with an M.B.A. Early in her career, she worked as a dietician/nutritionist at several NJ hospitals. She has a passion for weight control as she had struggled with weight during her life and ultimately has succeeded for many years to control hers.

Learn more about Linda at http://www.stresseaterdiet.com.

Tell me a little bit about your background and your family.
I am a Clinical Nutritionist. I have spent many years counseling patients on weight loss and weight management. I am married to my husband John and have 2 children, Lindsay, a college Senior  and Ryan, a U.S. Marine and 2 puppies, Max and Toby.

What do you like to do in your spare time? Hobbies?
Workout, hang out with my children, play with my puppies, travel, ride an ATV

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
To fly…I have so much to do and could use speed to save me time during the day.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A teacher

Where are you headed next?
I am setting up weight loss centers to help people deal with their stress, feel better, lose weight and feel comfortable about their bodies.

How did you get involved in writing?
I’ve had jobs where I had to write manuals or educational pieces and I’ve enjoyed it.

How do you find time to write?
I write in my head all day long and when I get a few minutes, I would jot down a thought for use at a later time. For this book, I wrote after work and on the weekends.

What did you enjoy most about the writing process?
Once I get started on a theme I am passionate about, the words just come to me and it is easy. It is very rewarding to create something from nothing.

What was the most difficult aspect of the writing process?
It’s always at the beginning, planning out what I want to impart in terms of information.

Tell me about co-authoring a book. What was that process like? What was enjoyable? Difficult?
I was involved in every process from writing to illustrations, design, to editing and proofing. It was very interesting and fun to see the book come together from scratch. The hardest part is being under restrictive deadlines.

What would you say to someone who wants to become a published author?
Do it, put your thoughts on paper and share them with others.

Where did you get the idea for the book?
I counsel patients all day and I saw a commonality in that most people were stressed and it negatively impacted their eating patterns. It derailed their weight loss or weight management efforts. Stress eating became a distraction that caused people to plateau or actually gain weight. I wanted people to understand how stress can negatively impact health and weight causing obesity, health and can be deadly.

What are the major themes of the book?
In the book I discuss 1)Stress and what it can do to the body and the mind; 2)Nutrition and educate readers on how to eat healthfully to reduce stress and how to optimize metabolism; 3) Exercise for stress management and burning calories, 4) Calming techniques to help restore the body to balance.

What kind of research did you have to do for the book?
I spent many hours searching for the newest studies, trials and statistics on stress, weight loss, obesity, vitamins, minerals and nutritional supplements, and diseases like diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and cancer.

Why do you think eating is such a typical response to stress?
Many people eat for comfort and to make themselves feel better. It reminds them of a simpler, better time in their lives. It is a natural coping mechanism but can get out of hand if stress is continual. Other coping mechanisms must be found or health will suffer.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
I want readers to understand that they need to manage stress not let it manage them. Then I want to empower them to know that they can be in control of their lives whether it is stress, eating, weight, etc.

Stress Eater Diet Q & A
What is the Stress Eater Diet book about?
The book describes the true effects of stress and its impact on the body, mind and overall health. It explains the dangers of acute and chronic stress, the long-term negative health effects and provides solutions, reasons and tips for positive change whether it is to minimize stress and/or to lose weight. We are a stressed out society. If changes are not made, premature death and a lower quality of life will be imminent.

How many people are stress eaters?
About 50% of the population admits to stress eating in general. But surveys show that 82% have eaten in response to a recent stressful situation.

Why is this program important now or needed?
Right now 80% of Americans are stressed because of the economic downturn and the associated stressors of job security or loss, housing and stock market declines, healthcare concerns, rising prices, etc. Close to 70% report an average of two sleepless nights per week. This program can provide a way for people to cope with stress and improve their health and their lives.

How is the Stress Eater Diet different than other diets?
Most of the popular diets offer the solution to losing weight without working on the cause of the extra calories. The Stress Eater Diet provides a solution for determining stress triggers, dealing with stress, as well as increasing metabolism so more calories are burned efficiently. It will provide a step-by-step approach to reduce and or eliminate stress along with nutritional guidelines that will make weight loss easier, enhance energy, and improve long-term health. The important part of our plan is understanding and realizing permanent behavior modification.

Can people use this even if they don’t want to lose weight?
Yes, many people stress eat but yet do not have what would be considered a weight problem. Yet they deal with stress through food and can get out of control at any time. This can lead to nutritional deficiencies, frequent illness, and long-term health issues like diabetes and heart disease.

How do you know if you are a stress eater?
We have a 10 question quiz in our book and an online quiz at www.stresseaterquiz.com where people can answer the questions based upon their current eating behaviors and the answers will be interpreted.

How does stress impact overeating?
Many people reach for food after a bad day to seek comfort and make themselves feel better. This bingeing is a method of coping that becomes a habit. However, the amount and type of food they eat becomes a concern. When stressed, most people eat high fat or sugary foods that contain many calories. Depending upon their pattern of stress and eating, in reaction to it, nutritional deficiencies, health issues and obesity can result.

What kind of results can you expect?
Everyone is different, of course, and improvement in stress management as well as weight loss will be a process. Our jumpstart plan shows that in 4 weeks, coping and eating habits can be modified. Stress can be reduced and up to 15 pounds can be lost in that time frame. Studies show that these behaviors can be learned and after 90 days of following a certain behavior, it becomes more permanent.

How was the Stress Eater Diet plan developed?
The Stress Eater Diet plan was developed from our medically supervised program as we achieved success with our patients. We were able to extract the methods that were most successful for our patients.

What are some things that can be done to stop Stress Eating?
First, it is imperative to reduce stress to reduce the level of stress hormones circulating in the body. This can be through deep breathing, exercise, mindfulness, meditation or yoga. Once the stressor is gone, then healthy eating is necessary such as choosing foods that reduce anxiety and stress and stabilize blood sugar levels. Chewing gum can also help reduce stress and trick you into thinking you are eating.

Many women love and crave chocolate. Can they still eat it on this plan?
Yes, treats are necessary and a vital part of life or it would get pretty boring. In moderation chocolate is fine. This program will help to reduce overall cravings in several ways. In fact, a recent study showed that taking a 15 min walk can halt cravings.

Is this book and diet just for women?
No, many men stress eat too, but about 50% less than women. Men and women react to stress differently from having different stressors to different coping mechanisms to their uniquely favorite stress foods. Regardless of the differences this book can help men deal with stress and the associated eating.

Should you exercise on this diet?
Exercise is always beneficial regardless of whether or not you want to lose weight. Firstly, exercise will reduce your overall stress and decrease circulating stress hormone levels in the body, which if too high can cause more abdominal or “belly fat” to be deposited. If you do wish to lose weight, exercise will help burn more calories and increase lean muscle mass resulting in a higher metabolism.

Many people are very busy and time is limited. How do they find time to practice this program?
This is not a complicated program. There are some very simple things outlined in the book that can be done easily to reduce stress levels. With regard to weight loss, there are simple guides and meal plans that can be adapted to a busy lifestyle. We also write a daily blog with simple tips and the most up-to-date research on diet and stress.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Stress Eater Diet Website

Stress Eater Diet Blog

Here are the blogs featuring Stress Eater Diet during our FEB 23-27 Tour.
A Little Bit of Sunshine
A Peek at My Bookshelf
Be Your Best Mom
Blog Tour Spot
Book Junkie Confessions
Book Nook Club
Camy’s Loft
Dee’s Christian Fiction
Fictionary
Fit Family
Healthy Sunshine
Hungry Girl
Lighthouse Academy
Mommy Mo-Mo
Peace with Cake
Real Women Scrap
Refresh My Soul
Stop Eating All the Chocolates
Sueth sayings
The Bod Squad
The Journey of Writer Danica Favorite
The Pitter Patter of Losing Pounds
The Sassy Pear
wandering, wonderings of a whacked-out woman

Leading Women Who Wound

As more churches add women’s ministry programs, there is a growing need to address the issues that naturally arise as women minister alongside one another and to one another. Given the fallen nature of the human heart as well as the complexities of personalities, conflict is an inevitable aspect of ministry. How do women deal with emotions when other women are insensitive, manipulative, or just plain mean? What does the Bible tell us? To be equipped for conflict, women must understand and master strategies specifically related to conflict with other women.

Leading Women Who Wound shows women how to effectively deal with conflict within their ministries. Seasoned women’s ministry leaders themselves, Sue Edwards and Kelley Mathews walk through several different aspects of conflict resolution including self-examination, identification of potential sources of conflict, tools for conflict resolution, and insight on how to prevent and move beyond conflict to minister to those who have been sources of contention. Recognizing that not all conflict results in a happy ending, Leading Women Who Wound gives the tools necessary to minister effectively and move forward with integrity.

Tell me a little bit about your background and your family.
Sue: I grew up an only child in a dysfunctional military family that traveled the world. I lived in ten different places by the time I was a junior in high school. My mind and experiences was broad but my heart was small and wounded.
I came to faith through the mentoring of a godly grandmother when I was six and a women’s Bible study that I attended as an adult. David Edwards and I married in the early seventies and moved to Dallas where he is a computer engineer and lay prison chaplain. We have two married daughters, four grandchildren and another will arrive in May.

After coming to faith in Jesus in my mid-twenties, I attended Dallas Theological Seminary to become a better Bible teacher in the women’s study where I met Jesus. They equipped me to write Bible study curriculum, lead small groups, and teach the Bible. After fifteen years in that parachurch study, God led me into church ministry. I worked as a lay minister at Prestonwood Baptist church, birthing the women’s ministry and teaching a Bible study for seven years. I learned valuable lessons there but grieved that I was not part of the official team. God opened doors for me as Adviser to Women Students at DTS and as Pastor to Women at Irving Bible Church in 1998, where I served for six years. Then God opened up the opportunity to teach full time in the Christian Education department at DTS. I teach courses in women’s ministry, general Christian education, and oversee the Doctor of Ministry Women in Ministry degree.

Kelley: I grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, part of a mixed family and the only daughter. With all those brothers I learned to excel at sports and hold my own with the guys. Though we were faithful attenders at a liturgical church, I really came to know Jesus in the sixth grade due to the personal attention of a teacher. She introduced me to Him as my savior, the one who forgave me completely and didn’t require further efforts to earn his love. That year transformed my life.

After several years in a Bible church during my college years at LSU, I entered seminary and began honing my writing, editing, and teaching skills. God always seems to put an older woman in my path who has been willing to mentor me in a given area. At DTS, two such women emerged, Sue being one of them. The other woman guided me into my first ministry position as Director of Women’s Ministries at Rowlett Bible Fellowship. I taught bible studies there for several years until my husband’s job moved us away. In the meantime, Sue and I had begun our writing ministry together.

I have been married to John for almost 12 years. We have two sons, ages 8 and 5, and a daughter who is 3. I stay home with the younger two and continue my writing and editing on a freelance basis. Several years ago I also began serving as Graduate Teaching Assistant for DTS, guiding students through the online courses of Evangelism and Spiritual Life.

What do you like to do in your spare time? Hobbies?
Sue: What spare time? In the time I have, I love to read and to write. To relax, we enjoy quality film and walking along the canals near our home with our West Highland Terrier Wallace. We also enjoy visiting our children and grandchildren in Anchorage, Alaska, and Houston, Texas.

Kelley: I’m with Sue…what spare time? My children occupy most of my day, though I do find time to read, blog, and watch the LSU Tigers during football season. My husband good-naturedly tolerates my football obsession.

What has God been teaching you lately?
Sue: God has been reminding me again that I understand so little. The more I learn the more I realize I don’t know much at all. I am a little child, completely dependent upon my Heavenly Father, and that’s a good thing. He has also been teaching me to slow down and to face the reality that one day I won’t be able to do all I do now-and that’s OK.

Kelley: The importance of daily devotion, constant prayerfulness, and dependence on Him. As an independent, efficient sort, it’s easy for me to burn through my day without much reflection on the Lord and what He might want. Lately, I’m re-learning the reality of my weakness-and in the process, the joy of leaning on him!

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Sue: When I was a child, I was a pagan. I wanted to impact my world in some significant way but I had no clue how. I dreamed of being a singer and would twirl and dance to Rogers and Hammerstein’s musical in my living room. The problem was I can’t sing. When Jesus found me, I yearned to have an impact for Him.

Kelley: I always knew more what I didn’t want to be, such as a dancer or singer (my family will laugh if they read this). After biology class, I knew I wasn’t meant to be a scientist. I used the process-of-elimination method to determine I wanted to be a writer.

How did you get involved in writing?
Sue: People kept telling me I should write a book. So finally I did.

Kelley: I was the editor of my high school newspaper and had to write a monthly column. In seminary, I developed my skills through the Media Arts in Ministry program in which I was privileged to be mentored by talented writers.

How do you find time to write?
Sue: Working in academia helps. We break between semesters and in the summer. During those blocks of time I can write from 8 am to 7 pm with a few breaks to eat and walk around. I’m an introvert and this ability to focus alone is God’s gift to me-and allows me to knock out a project quickly.

Kelley: Can you say “naptime”? All of our works were written when my children were infants to 4 years old. Naptime and evenings were my only opportunities to write.

What did you enjoy most about the writing process?
Sue: I love the vision for the project and I love the process-and I love interacting with people we have helped with our writing. Nothing is more fun than spending the day creating with words.

Kelley: I enjoy the refining and editing…making something already there, better.

What was the most difficult aspect of the writing process?
Sue: The editing-that’s why I write with Kelley. She is a gifted editor and writer.

Kelley: Creating story. I struggle to make events flow and people come alive (don’t look for my fiction release anytime soon!). Sue excels at stories.

Tell me about co-authoring a book. What was that process like? What was enjoyable? Difficult?
Sue: Writing with Kelley is fun. I usually write the first draft. Then we meet and talk over how to make it better. Since we are from different generations-I’m a Boomer and Kelley is a Buster-we come with different perspectives, enriching the work and connecting with a wider audience.

Kelley: Sue has been gracious from the beginning, giving me full authority to challenge and change anything she started. The back-and-forth exchanges taught me much about our subject matter and about partnership. The only difficulty I noticed was in the logistics of meeting together, but even then Sue’s flexibility eased that stress.

What would you say to someone who wants to become a published author?
Go for it-but realize it takes patience and perseverance

Where did you get the idea for the book?
We write about issues that face women today-issues we have experienced: for example, working with men and learning to work through conflict and personal attacks. Our new book Leading Women Who Wound came out of excruciating experiences that we learned happen to many women when they work with other women. We could not find a book out there that really addressed these issues from a women’s perspective, so we wrote one.

What are the major themes of the book?
Personal attacks, difficult people, and conflict are inevitable in ministry. Whether you volunteer a few hours a week or work on full time staff, you won’t be the exception! But men and women perceive and process conflict differently. Finally, a book for women by women who have been there. Are you particularly vulnerable? Can you differentiate between constructive criticism and destructive attacks? Have you mastered the process Jesus taught his disciples? A practical comprehensive guide book, Women Who Wound and How to Lead Them will prepare you to thrive in conflict as you learn to disarm and love women who hurt you.

What kind of research did you have to do for the book?
I read everything I could find on the topic, drew on my own experiences, and interviewed women who had stories to share. I expected to look hard to find these women but when women asked what I was working on and I told them, many said, “Let me tell you what happened to me!”

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
We hope they will prepare for personal attacks and conflict, becoming more direct in their communication styles and following Matthew 18 in their personal and ministry lives. Peacemaker ministry says there are 19,000 conflicts in churches every year and one in four ministers will either be fired or asked to leave their positions. Our goal is to lessen those stats as well as the heartache that results from managing conflict badly.

About the Authors:

Kelley Mathews
Kelley Mathews is a freelance writer and copy editor. She began her mothering career after earning her Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. She and her husband live in Texas with their three child ren.

Learn more about Kelley at http://www.newdoors.info/.

Sue Edwards
Sue Edwards is assistant professor of Christian Education at Dallas Theological Seminary, where she is leading the development of the Women in Ministry concentration, and has received awards for her excellence in education. She and her husband have two children and four grandchildren.

Learn more about Sue at http://www.newdoors.info/

Here are the blogs featuring Leading Women Who Wound
A Little Bit of Sunshine
A Little Whine and Cheese
A Peek at My Bookshelf
Aspire2 Blog
Blog Tour Spot
Book Nook Club
Christy’s Book Blog
Destiny Driver
Fictionary
Gatorskunz and Mudcats
Janet Daughtry
Lighthouse Academy
Quiverfullfamily.com
Refresh My Soul
Relevant Blog
Sumballo
The Friendly Book Nook
The Journey of Writer Danica Favorite
They Hang Like Paper Lanterns

Posted under Tours

Dear God, It’s Me and It’s Urgent

Take a break from whatever you’re doing, sit down for a few moments and focus your thoughts and your heart on one or two of the prayers in this book. You’ll be thankful that you did! Marion Stroud’s prayerful meditations will take you to the Father’s feet with the honest concerns of your own life.

In Dear God, It’s Me you will find six sections that cover every aspect of a woman’s life: A Woman Within, A Woman and Marriage, A Woman and Her Children, A Woman at Work, A Woman Who Cares, and A Woman Growing Older. The topics range from A Bride’s Prayer on the eve of her wedding to Feeling Unwanted and such concerns as Blue Monday, Mid-Life Crisis, After Chemotherapy, and Bereavement. Singleness and marriage, parenting and career, caring for others and growing older … with imagination and inspiration Marion Stroud offers prayers for every season of a woman’s life.

What are your own private times with God like?

If I’m totally honest about my quiet time, they can be very erratic when I’m under pressure. In an ideal world I would follow the contemplative tradition where I read, allow time to sit and listen to what I sense God might be saying, write it down in a journal and then pray about it. But, if I follow that pattern there’s the temptation to think that if I haven’t got, say half an hour, then there’s no point in starting. That’s wrong of course.  I don’t refuse to speak to my husband or children if I haven’t got the time for a heart-to-heart. So I try to put an hour aside once a week and ideally, half a day, once a month for a longer time of contemplation.

On other days I may use a devotional guide that might give me a short passage or even just a verse to think about. Writing the key point on a card and keeping it in my pocket means that I can remind myself and talk to God about it during moments. Catherine Marshall spoke of nuggets like this as being like vitamin pills that we should take daily with or after meals and that’s a goal for me this year! I also try to walk for 30 minutes first thing in the morning on weekdays–the theory being that I get my exercise before my body is awake enough to object! I have five post cards in my pocket on which I’ve written various topics and people to pray for. Most days I will pray for these things as I walk–but I try to bring praise and thanksgiving to God first.

Women go through so many experiences during the different seasons of life. How can a transparent prayer life with God help them to cope?

I remember when my father was dying with cancer. I had five children at home at the time, ranging in ages from 18 to 8. My two older children were doing public exams, which would decide their future academic path. I felt as if I was being torn into a dozen different pieces! I wanted to help my mom, be at home for my husband and children and support my father. A friend pointed out that I didn’t need to try and be God’s little helper. I couldn’t protect the rest of my family, or control the pressures they were facing. What I could do, however, was to take all these pressures and heartaches to the Lord, tell Him how frazzled and unhappy I was feeling (He knew anyway), and leave Him to deal with my needs and feelings and those of the rest of the family. It was like taking a really heavy bag to the foot of the cross and then just leaving it there. It was the “leaving it there” that was the key.

The prayers in Dear God It’s Me, and It’s Urgent! are very real-to-life. It’s almost like you can read the minds of other women who run to God with their own urgent life situations (big and small). Why do you think God is pleased to hear these very raw prayers? Jesus was always very honest when He spoke to people. Jesus knew what was in their hearts and He didn’t mince His words. God knows exactly what is going on in our lives and just as we can only really help a loved one if they are honest, so it is with God. He truly knows the best and the worst about us and loves us just the same. God already knows the underlying truth to our raw prayers and it is only when we acknowledge that truth to Him that we are open to hear His response!
How do women’s prayers change as the seasons of their lives change?

Older people sometimes find it hard to remember things and my husband reckons that this is because the “bank vault” of our memories is much fuller! It’s a bit the same with prayer. When I was young I knew what it was like to have the concerns and joys of being a “‘young mum” and sleepless nights and toddler tantrums loomed large in my prayers, while prodigal teenagers only happened to other people! As I’ve got older I can remember both the tantrums and the teenage stage but am also grappling with caring for the elderly and praying for those with serious illness. So the scope of my prayers widens. I have children and grandchildren, for whom the tantrums and teenaged years are still very much “today,” but, I have the concerns of my “today” to pray for as well. I can quite see why older people need more time to pray as they have so many things to pray about!

You can feel incredibly weighed down by all this need.  Sometimes I just have to remember to follow the suggestion of a friend of mine. She focuses on just one or two of the most urgent things and then pictures herself putting the rest of her concerns into a basket. She may picture the basket as one of those gondolas attached to a hot air balloon, and as she releases it, it floats away and she has no further responsibility for it–the wind of God’s Spirit has taken over. At other times she pictures it as the basket in which Moses was cradled as an infant, hidden in the reeds. She leaves it there, knowing that God might prompt her to do something to provide an answer to her prayer but in the meantime, He has it all in hand.

How can reading prayers be a comfort to women as they deal with their own life issues?

I see these written prayers as providing words where there are no words. When crisis times arise, you may feel that you just can’t voice your own feelings. Knowing that someone else has travelled on the same journey and survived, is an inexpressible comfort. It may also give you insights into what friends might be feeling and facing, when you haven’t had personal experience of that particular situation, so that you can be more supportive of their needs.

Discuss an example of an urgent time from your own life that became the inspiration for one of these prayers. How did God respond?

There have been an awful lot of urgent prayers in my life. But the one I remember most vividly, perhaps, is when our youngest son ran away from home. His three older siblings, who, the previous year had all been home-based the year before, were now at college university or travelling, and we had gone from a family of seven to a family of three in a few short months. I lay in the bath, with tears pouring down my cheeks, asking the Lord where we’d gone wrong. And God reminded me of the feeding of the 5,000 and the fact that the disciples were told to pick up the fragments of food that remained because nothing is wasted in His economy. Our older children had been relatively easy as teenagers, and without this experience, and the issues and events that surrounded it, I would have had a very different view of raising children. But now I was faced with a challenge. I could allow this experience to crush me, or, I could learn from it and share what I’ve learned with others. I chose to do the latter. It wasn’t easy but it has been a very valuable lesson for the many other crises that have beset my path since.

You’ve written quite a few books that have been read by women both in Great Britain and America. How do you find writing for American women different from British women? What are some similarities and universal truths that bond women from these two different continents together?

My American friends tell me that we Brits are more polite; I think that we’re more cynical! But when all is said and done, we’re all sisters under the skin! Britain is a much more secular society than America, and so what I write for a British audience would assume less faith or even familiarity with God and what He offers. But we share a common need for food, shelter, belonging and living a life that has meaning and purpose. We all love our families and struggle to be the best person we can be. We all realize that this is a tough call because we’re so aware of our weaknesses and failures.

Obviously there are a number of cultural differences. Even the words we use can mean different things on either side of the ocean. This is why a wise editor included a glossary in Dear God It’s Me. One of the words in the glossary refers to “Marmite.” Perhaps this is just as well. I shall always remember when a visiting American friend picked up a pot of Marmite. Marmite; a dark savoury spread, and spread it thickly on her toast, thinking that it was chocolate spread. Her horrified expression as the yeast extract hit her taste buds will remain with me forever!

What Others Are Saying:

I have returned to this book over and over in search of encouragement, direction and that extra insight we all go looking for in difficult times. Each time I’ve returned to these pages I have been deeply blessed. I hope you, too, will find comforting reminders here of your Heavenly Father’s love for you as well as challenges that prompt you to surrender every care to His tender keeping. This book is a treasure.

Robin Jones Gunn, bestselling author of Take Flight! a Sisterchicks® devotional

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy giving my friends gifts that can encourage and uplift them throughout the year. This book is an excellent choice for your girlfriend or any woman in your life. It includes prayer for every season of a woman’s life to uplift them and help them to make it through any situation. From A Bride’s Prayer on the eve of her wedding to A Prayer for Ironing and more, you will find a prayer that will inspire them.

Janis Rodgers- The Nearsighted Bookworm Blog

Sometimes we need words to shape our fears and longings to better communicate our hearts to a loving God. Dear God It’s Me, and It’s Urgent supplies busy women with these life-giving words. Marion Stroud beautifully captures a woman’s desire to experience God in every facet of her life in an enticing, fresh way. You will be blessed when you read this book.

Mary E. DeMuth, author Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God

About the Author:

Marion Stroud lives in Bedfo

rd, England. She is a wife, mother of five adult children and grandmother to eleven grandchildren. She is an established, popular author and sought-after speaker whose books have been translated into 14 languages. In her spare time she enjoys walking, supporting and encouraging missionaries and traveling. Listeners enjoy her British accent and request readings just to hear her speak.

Across the Pond: Meet Barry Eva, Author and Guest blogger

Finding himself packed off to friends in the USA, fifteen-year-old English born Fred Squire is not happy. Then he meets Brittany.

Struggling with his feelings for Brit and the language, Fred is further confused when he meets Brit’s flirtatious friend, Angel.

Escaping from a confrontation with Steve Harris, the neighborhood bully, Brit tells Fred her dark secret about Harris, and Fred’s world is turned upside down.

Life continues to throw Fred a curveball when he catches a baseball worth a small fortune. Further run-ins with Harris, a crazy family BBQ, and a chase through a mall all add to Fred’s American adventure.

“Brit and her Brit,” know that their young love will be followed by heartache when Fred has to return to England. But not before some final twists in the tale.

Across the Pond is an enjoyable 117 pages that goes from through all aspects of young love. With believable characters, exciting events, humor, first love, education and a little sport thrown in for good measure. Across the Pond is a book for all ages, from the young to the young at heart.

REVIEW SNIPPETS

Across the Pond definitely met all of my criteria… The story has great messages and the dialog is superb… I am donating a copy to my school’s library.

Once I began to read, I could not put it down. I laughed, I cried… With Christmas just around the corner, it will be an outstanding gift.

This is a great read for Young Adult fiction fans… a refreshing twist on a romance novel… I know you will enjoy it, I did!

For a solid read filled with adventure, humor, love, and “real-life”….I would definitely recommend this book.

Born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Barry, also known as “Storyheart,” left his beloved England in 2000,moving to the USA to be with the woman he’d met and fallen in love with on the Internet.

Better known for his short romance stories on the net and in his book Stories from the Heart. Barry is popular for narrating his stories on local TV or as a guest on other media stations,where his whit, oratory, and old-fashioned English charm make him a popular interviewee.

At present, Barry is living in Connecticut, with his wife and two children.

 

GUEST POST: HEADING WEST

 In 1000, Leif Eriksson is the first European to discover the Atlantic coast of North America.

 In 1004, Snorri Thorfinsson is the first European born on the American continent.

 In 1492, Christopher Columbus lands somewhere in the Bahamas.

 In 2007 Fred Squire lands in America for a vacation and he is not happy.  As you can read my Young Adult Fiction book  Across the Pond. Then his meets Brittany.

 Heading west or “Across the Pond,”  as we say England, can produce numerous problems. As I have found out, since moving to the US in 2000.

 I have now been “state side” for eight years and am now taken as the “Token Brit.”  It is fun to suddenly use a saying which for a British person is part of the every day speech, and see the puzzlement on an American’s face. Things like “didn’t say a dickey bird” has them totally confused and if you start on Cockney rhyming slang, remember they are a young country, and “Apples andPears, Trouble and Strife,” and ”Ruby Murray” mean absolutely nothing.

 Having cakes (muffins) for breakfast, the American theory that hot milk must be put into tea, and the numerous different names for food items all at first cause confusion. And what is it with all the cheese? They call the folk WISCONSIN cheese heads, and you can purchase actual wedge shape cheeses to ware on your head. But the whole love of cheese in the USA seems to go a lot further than that. Visit a restaurant, snack bar or any food outlet of any sort and order a meal it will come with CHEESE. Now this is fine for those who like the mouse bait, but myself, I think it is just that mouse food. Sure I have the Big Mac or Lasagna, but in the US, cheese is almost the staple diet. I have been restaurants and carefully picked out meals that on the menu do not mention cheese which is a rare thing, only for them to arrive covered in the stuff.

 Like Fred the hero of my book  Across the Pond, I found many things at first from the roads to the food. Like Fred the first time I was in a car that turned left at the red light I was rather… hmmm shocked.  Even a simple thing like teaching my little ones the ABC, proved an issue. In the US it ends X, Y, Z (zee) in the UK it is X, Y, Z (zed).

 Winston Churchill summed it up when he called America and England “two nations divided by a common language.” For instance, if you checked how frenetically words should be pronounced. ALUMINUM…for instance, frenetically is A-lu-min-i-um, and not  A-lum-in-um. TIRE is to grow weary, not what you put on cars, that is TYRE, and the opposite of DAY is NIGHT, not NITE.

 Still as Fred finds out during his stay Across the Pond, the USA has many plus points, after all, both of us found romance on these western shores.