Romantic Times Author Spotlight

Today, Romantic Times posted an author's spotlight on me and the soon-to-be-released book The Choice. It's selling incredibly well in pre-orders...a steady #6 in fiction bestsellers on CBD and #22 on Amazon for Christian romance...which I attribute to a gorgeous cover by Revell. Oh...and a wonderful story tucked in between. :)

Let me know what you think! There's an excerpt from a chapter, too, that hasn't been posted before. Click here to read.

NaNoWriMo

Have you heard of NaNoWriMo? It means "National Write a Novel Month." Some evil person came up with it...to try and force procrastinators to stop making excuses and sit down to write. The goal is 50,000 words in a month.

CRAZY!

If that were me, by November 30th, I would end up tossing out 49,000 words. Only about 1,000 would be worth keeping.

Angela Hunt put this video together about the truth behind novelists' stick-to-it-ive-ness...very amusing!

Slowing Down Childhood

I'm giving a talk to young moms soon called "Slowing Down Childhood." As I was researching info for the talk, I came across these stats:

In the past twenty years, children's free time has declined by twelve hours a week, time spent on structured sports activities has doubled, family dinners are down by a third, and the number of families taking vacations together has decreased by 28 percent.





Are today's kids growing up without time to be kids?

How does your child's childhood compared to yours...structure-wise?

Are you able to the brakes on your family's frenzied schedule? What's your best tip?

I'm interested in your thoughts and suggestions--it really helps me know what direction to take as I work on the content for this talk.

Send me your tips via comments or e-mails (suzanne at suzannewoodsfisher dot com) and I'll add your name to the hat for a drawing. I've just received another box of Amish cookbooks from my Amish friends and I'm eager to share one or two with my bleaders! (Blog + Readers = Bleaders) Plus, my closet is getting full with books again and I need to make room to hide Christmas gifts!

The winner will be announced on Monday's blog.

Thanks, in advance, for being my Bleader! Hope your week is off to a good start.

Monday's Little Bit of Good News

Isn't it nice to have some good news in the news? This weekend's newspapers ran a story about giraffes in West Africa, bouncing back from the brink of extinction. In 1996, there were only 50 left. Today, over 200!



There are nine types of giraffes in Africa, each distinguished by geographic location and the color, pattern and shape of their spotted coats. Ten years ago, it was estimated that there were 140,000 in Africa. Today, giraffes number less than 100,000--due to poaching, war, advancing deserts and exploding human populations.



The animals in West Africa--Niger--are known as Giraffa camelopardalis peralta, the most endangered subspecies in Africa. They have large orange-brown spots that fade into pale white legs.

Their comeback, experts say, has been credited to a combination of factors: concerned conservationists, a government keen for revenue, and a rare harmony with villagers.



What a great way to start the week...on a piece of good news! Too rare, too rare. I think there could be a great market for a TV news show dedicated to just telling us what's going right in this world.

Good stories only, like the success story of the West African giraffes.

TGIF: Dancing Baby to Beyonce

Now here's a baby with rhythm!

Not-so-bright Burglars

CARROLL, Iowa - Police had no trouble identifying two men accused of trying to break into an apartment.

Police were responding to a call about an attempted burglary when they pulled over a car matching the alleged suspects' vehicle.

Inside the car, officers found two men with their faces blackened with permanent marker. Police said the caller described two men with painted faces attempting to break into an apartment Friday night before driving off. Matthew McNelly, 23, and Joey Miller, 20, were arrested at gunpoint after officers were told they might be armed. Neither man had a weapon. McNelly and Miller were each charged with attempted second-degree burglary. Both men were released after posting bond.

Attorneys for the men declined comment Tuesday.


Thanks to MochawithLinda for sharing this story!

Source: MSNBC

Tattoo?

This whole tattoo craze is hard for me to embrace. I once read that tattoos are "permanent evidence of temporary insanity."

Yet they are wildly popular and the trend doesn't seem to be cresting. Tattoos have crossed all socio-economic groups. Well-coiffed clerks at Nordstrom's are spotted with little tattoos on the back of their necks or delicately placed tattoos on their ankles.



But I just don't get the sleeve tattoo.



Today, I was checking out at the grocery store during a quiet stretch when the lines were empty. The clerk had a sleeve tattoo and seemed like a not-too-easy-to-offend kind of guy. And I'm nosy. This was my chance!

I asked him if it hurt during the tattoo process. He said, "Yea. A little. The outlining hurts, but then the area goes numb. It's like getting scratches on your skin."

A lot of scratches. Like, you might have lost a fight with an angry tom cat.

And yes, it did bleed. He said it took about two weeks to heal. Then he surprised me by saying his sleeve tattoo required 20 hours, done in 3 hour sessions. It took a couple of months to get the entire arm tattoed.

Any regrets? I asked.

"Nope. None. I had a lot to express and this is how I was able to make a statement. It gets kind of addictive, this tattooing."

Fascinating! I had no idea that creating a story of self-expression was the purpose of a sleeve tattoo. Kind of like...body graffiti.

Still, I can't help but think that when he is a very old, old man and his tattoo has shriveled up like a popped balloon, he may be a little sorry.