A Christian Romance Writer’s Journey

Welcome to Mobiforumz.com. then start blogging ur own wap site!


Free Mp3’s 4 Ur Mobile


Free Full Games 4 Ur Mobile


Free Mobile Applications


Free RingTones 4 mobiles

Jeanne Marie Leach is a published author in both fiction and non-fiction. For fiction, Jeanne writes historicals, as well, she has a writer’s help book out for the beginners out there. Please read on to learn more about Jeanne and her books.

Q: Jeanne, please tell us about yourself, what are your hobbies?

Jeanne Marie Leach responds: Scrapbooking, American history, Jeeping, interior decorating, buying and selling on eBay, reading, snowshoeing, winning the local annual chile cook-off, and my husband and I are Denver Broncos season ticket holders.

Q: How many books have you published and over what period of time?

Jeanne Marie Leach responds: My first book, ANGEL IN THE SALOON, was released in 2000. My next, THE PLIGHT OF MATTIE GORDON, was released in 2007. Then came my writer’s help book, WRITING BASICS FOR BEGINNERS, in January 2008, and SHADOW OF DANGER was released in April this year.

My book, THE PLIGHT OF MATTIE GORDON is under contract to be released in audio book with Books In Motion around the end of the month.

Q: In addition to writing, what other things do you do writing related?

Jeanne Marie Leach responds: I just finished teaching a course with The Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network called Editing Fiction. I had 20 students, and most have said they want me to teach an extended version or part two. I am presently negotiating the months I will teach the class next year.

I have judged the Genesis contest twice, and would love to do it again.

Q: What inspired you to take up fiction writing?

Jeanne Marie Leach Responds: All my adult life I’ve been daydreaming different stories. I’d play out the lives of my characters over a period of six months to a year. When I was about 40 years old, I became concerned that I was spending too much time in my make-believe world, so I finally got up the nerve to tell my Clinical Psychologist father-in-law about my ‘problem’.

Submit my ‘babies’ for someone else to read? Is this the type of stuff people want to read? So, thus began my writing career.

That’s amazing! I love this story, Jeanne, thanks for sharing it with us!

Q: Is there something unique or special about you or how you write that you would like to tell us about?

Jeanne Marie Leach: I write in a style I like to call “organized seat-of-the-pants.” I prepare to write a new book by first doing my research. Since I write historicals, this means I must research everything from terrain to clothing to furniture. So, I write down everything I might possibly need to know and head for the library, internet, and schedule field trips I might need to take.

I do not edit as I go. I sit down and just write from start to finish. Then I go back and edit the book as many times as it needs it. I’ve noticed the longer I write, the fewer rewrites and edits I have to do, but make no mistake, I still must edit. I have never written the perfect chapter yet, but it’s something I aspire to.

Q: Rejections, what is your experience with them, and how do you handle them?

Jeanne Marie Leach responds: Having written and submitted ten books to publishers so far, I have received my share of rejection letters. My record: I received four rejections for the same book in the mail on the same day.

Rejections don’t bother me because I don’t take them personally. It’s part of the business. There are over 8,000 publishers in America. I just have to find the one who is looking for what I write. A rejection slip simply means I now know one less publisher to submit to. Since most rejections don’t tell me why I’m being rejected, it really doesn’t affect my writing at all.

Q: You’ve written many books, waited a long time before beginning to submit, so tell us, how did you keep inspired to write?

Jeanne Marie Leach responds: I joined an ACFW critique group seven years ago. We were together until last year, when most of us were becoming too busy to continue any longer. Those were the most productive years I spent in between my first and second books. I learned so much about writing, and as of now, every one of us from the group are published, several multi-published, and the last one just got a great three-book contract from a major Christian publishing company.

Q: How many novels did you have completed before your first sale? Do you intend to try selling all of them? Why, or why not?

Jeanne Marie Leach responds: I wrote 3 ½ books before my first sale. These were all part of the same series as the book I sold, but since the publisher rejected the rest of the series, I had to wait until I got my rights back before I could try to sell these books. I intend to sell them all. They are presently with an agent, who I hope is considering representing me.

Q: What is a typical writing day for you?

Jeanne Marie Leach responds: As of January 1st this year, I haven’t had time to write. My hubby’s mortgage business had to shut down due to the new laws passed in Colorado over the past two years. Consequently, I must make as much money as I can, and God has blessed me with work. I love editing, and am so thankful for this ability to make more money than ever before. However, this has left me with little, if any, time for writing.

My calling is not writing, but to minister hope to women and show them their true value in Christ Jesus. Writing is just one of the ways I can do this. Above this calling is my husband. The day I hear myself saying or thinking that my husband is an intrusion in what I’m doing, I will need to make a drastic change in my life.

Q: What does your publishing house expect of you with regard to self-promoting your novel(s)?

Jeanne Marie Leach responds: Everthing! I must get reviews and interviews, get the books into bookstores and libraries, book my own signings and other appearances, and do my own marketing. I must make and send out postcards, make up my own bookmarks, find reviewers and bloggers who will promote the book.

The publisher got the books listed with Baker and Taylor, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.com. She made a table stand of the cover for me to use at signings. She put my books in a brochure that goes out to bookstores, and she goes to booksellers conventions.

Q: Do you have any further direction or thoughts that you care to share with weary authors-in-training?

Jeanne Marie Leach responds: The Bible says we must study to show ourselves approved. Before going forth to preach the Word, one must go to Bible school, or missionary training. Writing is no different. Not only must you learn proper grammar, punctuation, usage and style, but fiction has another completely different set of components that must be present before a publisher will consider it for publication.

Never give up! Never, never, never give up!

Thanks so much for all these wonderful, informative responses, Jeanne! It was great featuring you! To learn more about Jeanne Marie Leach, please visit her website at http://www.jeannemarieleach.com/.

Shadow of Danger,

The Plight of Mattie Gordon,

Writing Basics for Beginners,

Post # 1 in series: Vision Statement

The Business Side:

The Wikipedia definition of vision statement is: A vision statement plays a key role in an organization. The goal of a vision statement is to clearly articulate an aspirational statement about what the company wants to be longer term.

There are various views on how long a vision statement should be, and how far it should look into the future. Generally, the statement is meant to span years and would only be revisited quarterly or annually. Developing a vision statement should take some time, and as a result, you may want to revisit it more frequently when you first create it, and tweak it as needed.

Vision statements are meant to align an organization. These high level statements can help employees make difficult decisions, by simply referring back to the company’s vision statement and asking: how does this option align with our companies vision?

In some organizations visions are cascaded down. There is an overall company vision, and then each area creates their own vision to align with the company’s overall vision.

Applying this Principle to your Writing Life:

One of the biggest gains a writer can attain by creating their own vision statement is “focus”. Once you know where your writing energy is to be focused, then you will know whether or not to spend time on a given project. A well defined vision statement that takes into account your values (we’ll be discussing this in a later post), can basically act as a filter in determining which projects to take on, and how much time you should allot to them. A vision statement can be related to a priority list in some ways. If a certain challenge doesn’t in some way fit into an element in your vision statement, then you need to either adjust your vision statement, or confidently decline working on the project.

Some steps you might want to go through to create your Initial Writer’s Vision Statement:

1. Consider all that you do right now that is writing related. Take a few minutes to run through your daily, weekly, monthly tasks, and list all that could fall under your writing umbrella.
2. Now, ask yourself why you do each of those items that you listed under your writing umbrella.
3. Analysing your reasons, consider if it is worthwhile to continue? (Keep your values and morals in mind here. Not everything worthwhile that you do will necessarily be for personal or financial gain, and yet still, it may be important and something you feel called to do.) If you can justify doing something to your satisfaction, then you’ll want to include it somehow in your vision statement. If you can’t justify it, then resolve to stop wasting your time on it. Perhaps it’s to be taken up in another season of your life, just not in this one. Create your actions list (what you want included in your vision) according to your findings.
4. Now, is there something you’ve been WANTING to do, FELT CALLED to do right now, or in the near future, but just haven’t felt you had the time to incorporate into your life? If so, go over # 2, and # 3 above for it, and discern whether or not it should be included in your action list for defining your vision statement. This may be where you look longer term, what you aspire to do. If it’s something you feel strongly about, then you’ll want to add it to your vision statement to help you start setting the plan in motion.
5. With your action list available, and everything justified in your mind and heart, go to creating a writer’s vision that encompasses all the items on your action list in a generic, yet definitive way.

As an example, here is my vision statement.

“To share inspirational stories in a published format, support and promote fellow writers, continue to learn and grow as a writer and in faith, and to share personal reflections and knowledge that I’ve gained along the way, all in a Christian perspective.”

You’ll notice that the wording is sufficiently generic enough that I can fit many of my projects that I hold dear to me under each high-level concept, but it also gives me a clear perspective of what I want to spend my time on under my writing umbrella.

Now it’s your turn. Try your hand at writing a vision statement for your writing life. We’d love to read yours, so feel free to paste it into the comment section. Next Monday we’ll be coming back to this series to discuss Values.

Blessings,

Phil and Eileen

A bit of background: Together, my husband and I have over 30 years of experience in the business world. This includes working for small companies and very large companies, in positions ranging from entry level to Assistant Vice President. As many of you know, I have been working on learning the craft of fiction writing for nearly five years at some level or another, so this series is helping me, too. These posts are intended to share some of the ideas, principles and practices we learned in the business world (mostly my husband’s part), and then show how we can take these concepts and apply them to our writing life (mostly my part), making our writing time more efficient, productive, and rewarding.

For this series, the business principles and practices posts will be divided into two sections:

Firstly: Strategic

The purpose of the strategic items is to outline the fundamentals of what the business needs to achieve. These are the overarching items that are set at the highest levels of the organization to help guide decision-making. For us writers, these high-level concepts will help us gain focus and direction in what we write and how we promote our writing, etc. The items we will cover in this part of the series are:

Vision Statement
Values
Brand
Mission Statement
Wrap-Up Strategic Post: Vision & Values in Action

Secondly, We’ll take a look at some of the Tools required to make a business work.

After the strategic items have been set, we need to figure out how to move forward in line with these items. To do that, we’ll covered the following in this section.

Goal Setting
Measuring your progress
Planning
Brainstorming
Presentation skills

In each post we’ll explain the business concept, and then show how you might apply it to your writing life. Whether you dabble in writing, or look at it as your profession, I believe this series will help you define your focus, and increase your productivity.

If there is a particular business practice or principle that you have heard of and would like discussed, but is not outlined above, please let us know, and we’ll see what homework we can do to incorporate it into additional posts.

We’re looking forward to sharing this series, and pray that you will gain much from it.

Blessings,

Phil and Eileen

Winner Update: Congratulations to Rae Byuel, you won Georgiana Daniel’s Table for One.

Blessings,

Eileen

I welcome author James E. Robinson to my Authors-Helping-Writers segment this week. James E. Robinson is the published author of his very first literary fiction novel, The Flower of Grass. James has also self-published three other books over the past five years, and with a young family, and a love for music, theatre, film, cooking, and fishing he lives a busy life.

Q: Please tell us about your life in general, and how writing fits into it.

James E. Robinson: I’m a busy guy. I am a therapist in private practice, I write songs professionally, I have a ministry…and most importantly, I have a wife and two young children. I try to be as physically, spiritually, and emotionally available to them as possible, because I have learned that without this sort of effort the family can be at risk. I say all this to perhaps make an excuse…but I hope not; the truth is, I am not a very disciplined writer, but only because I don’t presently have enough writing time in any given week to do much self-disciplining! I crave more writing time…but, on the other hand, I see any time the Lord provides as a gift, and He has empowered me to write a great deal under considerable pressure. I’m willing to wait on Him, and see where He leads me with writing as part of my future. I have not been very involved in any meaningful way with groups, writer’s conferences, etc., but hope to become more so in the future. Certainly, I have so much to learn, and want very much to improve as a writer.

Q: Please tell us about the “acceptance call”.

James E. Robinson: I found out about my first novel deal with UK publisher Lion Hudson through my literary agents, Ang and Dan DePriest (the book will be distributed in the U.S. by Kregel). I felt happy, nervous, paranoid, thankful, doubtful, ecstatic, and generally confused. Then, finally, once the papers were signed, I gradually decided it must be true.

Q: In addition to writing your novels, do you work on other writing related projects?

James E. Robinson: I have a ministry, http://www.prodigalsong.com/, through which I speak, sing, teach, and counsel. I would love to write reviews (I’ve done a few) and generally be more involved with all things literary.

Q: What inspired you to take up fiction writing? Or, who inspired you and what did they say or do to help you get started?

James E. Robinson: I have loved fiction since childhood, and dreamed of being a writer all my life. I was always encouraged as a child to read, and to write. My grandmother was an early encourager for my creativity, as were my mother and father. I wrote stories at an early age, but then focused most of my creative energy for many years in the world of music and songwriting. Only in the last ten years or so have I undertaken writing prose with the intent of being published.


Q: Is there something unique or special about you or how you write that you would like to tell us about?

James E. Robinson: I think my life has been an interesting one, and God has provided me with quite an education in living. I’m a recovering alcoholic/addict, and spent many years on a rather colorful prodigal journey. I have been very lost in darkness, and God has shown me the way Home. Today, my interests in and passion for human psychology, theology, and art have now all culminated into a baseline for writing about life, love, faith…and I can see now how God has been preparing me for this work. I try to write about what makes the human animal tick…and I love exploring the layered complexities of the human condition.

Q: How long did you concentrate on learning the craft of fiction writing before you received your initial offer?

James E. Robinson: Honestly, I’ve spent little time learning the craft in any sort of formalized way. Mostly I’ve just read books…revered them, really, all my life. And books that have inspired me have stayed with me forever, in a rich, lasting way, perhaps more than any other art form. I consider it a great privilege and blessing to be called to write.

Q: If you’ve received rejections, how do you handle that process?

James E. Robinson: Well, I haven’t received many actual rejections, but only because I haven’t up to this point really submitted much to anyone. The Flower of Grass was my first attempt at a novel, and although it was apparently rejected by some publishers when first pitched by my agents, the deal with Lion Hudson happened very quickly. I realize this is unusual, and I know that more than likely the future will hold many rejections. But, as a professional songwriter for many years, I’ve come to understand that rejection is just part of the process. You can’t take it too personally. I try to write what I like, and hope someone else will like it, too. It’s the writing that drives me, though, not the competitive nature of modern day publishing. For the most part, I’ve found throughout my artistic career that I’m happiest—and probably most productive—when I just try to please myself. I think all art is prayer. When we are in His will, the stuff should flow, and the work will honor God.

Q: How long did it take you to write The Flower of Grass, and then sell it?

James E. Robinson: I began the novel in February of ’07, turned in a rough draft to my agents in late May, and had a signed contract by that Christmas. I would certainly like the luxury of taking more time to write and shop…but life is what it is right now! Perhaps God will provide for a bit more relaxed atmosphere for my next one.

Q: What is a typical writing day for you?

James E. Robinson: The Flower of Grass was written in short but intense spurts…I would attempt to get all of my other work obligations done in three or four work days, so that I could steal a day or maybe two to write. I would start as soon as the kids were off to school, then barely pause to eat. Believe me, I’m not necessarily recommending this! But I found that while the novel was in progress, I was “writing” it all the time in my head; I would think of things while driving, sleeping, eating, working…and then scribble notes and ideas onto any scrap of paper I could find. I ended up with stacks of scrap paper, post-it notes, church bulletins, you name it. The whole thing had a certain frantic, manic sense to it. I don’t suggest anyone else follow this “technique,” needless to say! But who knows…maybe it’s the way I’m supposed to write? Each artist will need to find his own rhythm, and work to whatever energy best gets him where he wants to go. Creativity is a tough thing to harness, I think. For me, finding a “zone” and then getting as much on paper as possible is the way I usually work. Then, of course, the real hard work awaits…rewrites!

Q: What does your publishing house expect of you with regard to self-promoting your novel(s)?

James E. Robinson: I’m really only now beginning to learn what all the self-promotion stuff is about. I’ve joined some online writing groups, and people have been most helpful. I have a website (http://www.jameserobinson.com/) and am trying to be as available to my publisher as much as possible. But I’m really still quite the rookie. I look forward to learning more as we move towards our release dates this summer.

Q: How did you decide when your manuscript was ready for your editor’s eyes?

James E. Robinson: Well, this first book all happened so fast, I wasn’t even quite ready to stop revising when my editor finally demanded that I “stop writing RIGHT NOW and hit SEND!” So, my publishers gave me little choice…I had to turn the thing in so that they could have books by the time they wanted them. Working with a professional editor was also a first for me, and very educational. Hopefully, my next book won’t need quite as much editorial, because I will be more aware of what’s going down on paper from the start.

Q: Do you have any further direction or thoughts that you care to share with weary authors-in-training?

James E. Robinson: As all the writing instructors say: “Read, read, read, and write, write, write.” Figure out what you like best, and what you write best. Realize that rejection is simply part of any creative process. Dedicate yourself to learning the craft, but never at the expense of your own authentic voice or artistic passions. Although I doubt this would be considered particularly good advice for a lot of folks these days, I nonetheless believe that, for some of us at least, writing toward our own passion rather than to any commercial “box” is the best way to discover our truest talents.

Thank you, James, for visiting and offering such great feedback. I wish you all the best in your ministry, and writing. Now’s the time to hear some more about The Flower of Grass.

The Flower of Grass by James E. Robinson
Available in August 2008
Amazon.com Quick Purchasing Link
Christianbook.com Quick Purchasing Link

John Allen returns to his small Tennessee home town following the death of his abusive, alcoholic father. He has been gone nearly twenty years, living in Los Angeles where he has become a successful author, but also followed in his father’s addictive footsteps. Now sober, he comes home to make amends-to his younger brother, also struggling with alcoholism, and to his older sister-for all the years he spent running away from their abusive family life, leaving them to fend for themselves while he chased after his dreams.

The most important person driving John’s return, however, is Jessie-the girl he left after high school graduation, the love of his life, and he hers. They had promised one another their hearts, and John swore he would send for her to join him once he had established himself. But his desperation to flee from the brokenness and pain of his past, the nightmares that haunt him, and his desire for the “medication” offered by a world of fame and fortune cause him to abandon the town and everyone in it, including Jessie. Eventually, his letters to her stop coming.

Over time, she loses hope in John’s return and eventually marries Tuck, a lifelong and ever-faithful friend. Now John returns, and Jessie is torn between her desire to be with him and yet be true to herself and her husband. To make things worse, her father has died and her mother is gravely ill.

John and Jessie must discover what remains of their love, and at what cost it might be rekindled. And in searching for something long ago lost, they find redemptive healing they could not have imagined.

The Flower of Grass (taken from 1 Peter 1:24) frames a classic love story around the deeper themes of passing time and mortality, the true nature of love and faith, and the delicate balance of human relationships. In seeking one another, John and Jessie learn that love can run much deeper than desire, faith can heal even the most broken of hearts, and time waits for no one.

Book Giveaway Information:

Please leave a comment with your augmented e-mail address if you’d like to be entered into a drawing for a copy of The Flower of Grass by James E. Robinson. The drawing will take place on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time.

Winner Update: Carole is the lucky winner of James E. Robinson’s The Flower of Grass. Congratulations!

Hi, All:

I’m over on Writer’s Rest today, blogging about the writer’s revision conundrum. I hope you’ll visit me there, and help me figure it out. http://writersrest.blogspot.com/2008/07/revisionswhen-is-enough-enough.html

Blessings,

Eileen

Crime & Clutter by Cyndy Salzmann
Genre: Woman’s Lit.
Published by Howard Books (2007)
ISBN: 1582296448
Amazon.com Easy Link to Purchase

Crime & Clutter is Cyndy Salzmann’s second installment in her Friday Afternoon Club Mystery series. A fun, appetizing, down-to-earth read that makes you feel as though you’re a part of the club—-learning and growing with the sometimes overwhelmed, but always well-meaning ladies of the FAC.

When Mary Alice’s long-held secret is discovered by a fellow member, it becomes the FAC’s mission to help her sort through the contents of her late father’s possessions, and discover why he abandoned his wife and infant daughter decades earlier. As the door to the storage unit is lifted, what awaits them is far from expected.

In Crime & Clutter, Salzmann humorously depicts current-day, mundane and surprising situations while taking the reader for an emotional ride back through the days of The Revolution. Like a good friend, Salzmann shares unique and tantalizing recipes to experiment with, too. You’ll find yourself gravitating to your kitchen and wanting to share both the recipes and the mystery packaged in Crime & Clutter with all your friends.

Cyndy Salzmann’s mastery of withholding information facilitates an inviting and entertaining read. She strategically discloses bits of information throughout the story, keeping the reader foraging ahead to piece it all together. Written in both first-person, present-tense and third-person past-tense, Crime & Clutter is a diversified read, rich in character, and depicts a delightfully realistic take on the process of forgiveness. I highly recommend this unique read for all women who seek a healthy dose of “girl time”, and be forewarned, there are some especially nice surprises along the way.

Hi, All:

Hubby and I are fine-tuning our upcoming course for this blog (Applying Business Principles and Practices to Your Writing Life), and I’m trying to get back into my writing after a couple week hiatus from it, as well as organizing my blog time. Boy, do I need this course we’re working on. As we work through the topics I see more and more how I need to look at my writing hours in a business manner to be more efficient and also to prioritize all of my life and stay true to what God calls of me.

Our goal is to provide the overview next Monday, so if you know of anyone else who might benefit from looking at their writing through a business perspective, please send them on over here. Leave any topics you’d like to see addressed in the comment section and we’ll do our best to address them during the weeks we post on this course.

I’m also running a FeedBlitz contest this summer. For all my FeedBlitz subscribers, present company, and any who sign up this summer, I’ll be drawing a winner in early September for your choice of one of several books, a $15.00 Starbucks card, and an added surprise gift. If you haven’t signed up already, I hope you’ll subscribe for FeedBlitz today (those already signed up, and who remain as subscribers throughout the summer are automatically entered. Thank you for your support of this blog!). It’s easy to subscribe, just enter your e-mail address in the space provided at the top left of the side bar and validate your request through the e-mail sent from FeedBlitz.

Blessings, and Take Care All!

Eileen