PENTECOST SUNDAY

Fresco of the Pentecostal dove representing the Holy Spirit at the Karlskirche in Vienna, Austria.[PD-US]

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

John 20:19-23

The Seekerville bloggers have been praying for YOU and for our entire blog community. If you have any special intentions that need additional coverage, leave a request for prayer in the comment section below. 

Please pray for our country and for an end to the problems that plague us at this current time, such as the increased cost of fuel and food and the rise in crime. Please pray for world peace, for the protection of our military, law enforcement officers and border agents.   

God bless you and keep you safe. 

Wishing you a joyous Pentecost!

May you be filled with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit

 today and in the year ahead.

But, anyway, tacked on to the end of my babysitting day, I’ve been involved in getting the ACFW Conference, ACFW Consignment bookstore, and ACFW Storyfest rolling the last few weeks. One thing led to another and my thoughts ended up on retractable vinyl banners.

Are you thoroughly confused yet? lol

ACFW Storyfest Readers' Event August 2023

I asked around and got some really eye-catching banners to share with ya’ll. I’ll be honest. I don’t think I’ve seen a BAD one yet.  And since there’s nothing new under the sun, I found this great article of 9 Tips on Creating a Unique Retractable Banner. I’m going to just hit the high points, but I’ll share the link to the full article for you to really dig into.  The author did such a good job of outlining everything and it’s worth a read.

I probably could have just sent ya’ll to his article, but there aren’t any examples, and since that’s the main focus of today’s blog, well, here we are.

One of the first questions he asked in his article was what do you want your banner to accomplish?

Well, for writers, most of the time we’re standing right there by our banner, right there with our books. We want people to come over and look at our books, engage with us, hopefully BUY a book or two, and last, but not least, sign up for our newsletter. Maybe even follow us on SM.

What do you want on your banner?

Top billing should be your author name, which is YOUR logo. Like Pam Hillman with Author underneath that. Or, even better, be more specific. If you have a tagline, use that. Mary would use “Romantic Comedy with Cowboys”. For my banner, I would probably put “Historical Christian Fiction.” Leaving the word “author” off completely. 

C.F.E. Black has “heart-stealing fantasy” and underneath that “fast-paced science fiction”. So perfect for her brand.

C. F. E. Black

Generally, most people will know that you’re an author by the piles of books around you, but sometimes at festivals and local events, they don’t always grasp that. They just think you’re selling books. More than once, they are surprised to find out that I AM the author. So spelling out on your banner that you’re an author is a good thing.

Call-to-Action

At the bottom, you’ll want to include your website address, maybe even a QR code. If you want to use your banner to point people to your presence on Social Media, the best way to do that would be with QR codes. If you plan on having a giveaway for people who sign up for your newsletter, follow you on FB, IG, Twitter, etc., having those QR codes right there would make it so easy for them to pop it in. However, you don’t want to get too crazy with these links and QR codes on a banner. It’s probably enough to just send include your website. For newsletter signup, you could provide a QR code right by your guestbook and those who are IT savvy could just sign up right there.

You want your banner to state who, what, and where (where being your presence on the internet). You’re not wanting to point people to your house or a storefront, so don’t put a physical address (unless you DO have a storefront), a phone number, or even your email address. If they need to get in contact with you, your website address is the best way. Or, through Facebook these days.

Branding

Davalynn Spencer

A bit about Banner Size, Vendors, and Pricing. Retractable banners range from 2’ x 5’3” to 2.9” x 6’9” tall. Go as big as you can afford. Almost all venues can handle something as tall as 6’. Remember that you want to catch a reader’s eye from a distance, and you need your banner to stand out above the crowd.

VistaPrint and Banners on the Cheap are two vendors I’m familiar with. Prices can range from $50-$180 and most of these quotes include the retractable stand that comes with your banner. If you’re not in a hurry for a banner, get your design ready, keep an eye on prices and you can sometimes cash in on a great deal (as low as $50) with VistaPrint.

Less is More

Linda Kozar

Color

Building on the paragraph above, a bit more about color. Look at Linda’s banner again. Bright pinks, reds anchoring the top corners of her banner, pastel blue. On brand. C.F.E. Black, again, staying on brand with black, brown, tan, a hint of fire. ACFW’s Storyfest banner which is not an author banner, but promotes the Storyfest Reader’s event is also on brand: black and gold.

Sometimes it takes a few books, a few years to reach a color scheme that really works for you, but once you do, use that to your advantage.

Final takeaway

We’ve covered a lot in today’s post, but there is so much more in the article referenced, so feel free to dig deeper into the topic there. Staying true to your brand is so important. 

Also, you want an evergreen banner that you can use over and over again. So I wouldn’t include dates, locations, or words like “new release” or “local author” on your banner.

A special thanks to authors C.F.E. Black, Davalynn Spencer, and Linda Kozar for coming to my rescue and providing their banners for this blog post.

Want to read more? Check out this article. Retractable Banner Design : 9 Ultimate Tips To Create an Attractive Display Banner

CBA Bestselling author PAM HILLMAN was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mississippi and spent her teenage years perched on the seat of a tractor raking hay. In those days, her daddy couldn't afford two cab tractors with air conditioning and a radio, so Pam drove an Allis Chalmers 110. Even when her daddy asked her if she wanted to bale hay, she told him she didn't mind raking. Raking hay doesn't take much thought so Pam spent her time working on her tan and making up stories in her head. Now, that's the kind of life every girl should dream of. www.pamhillman.com

 I love it when worlds collide, like when earlier this week my librarian daughter messaged me to ask if I knew a particular Love Inspired author because she had just catalogued two of her books. Why yes. I'm even friends with Connie Queen. 😀

The happy collision I'm thinking of today is how lessons taught in a classroom of preteens can apply equally to writers. A few weeks ago, we had a group come to do an assembly with students on mindsets. In preparation for the program, I was reviewing some cute videos with my class, because cartoons can be ageless.

Here are links to them. If you have a few minutes, you might enjoy MOJO! (He's really cute.)

About four years ago, my husband and I went on a close-to-home adventure. We drove the two-hour road trip from Asheville, NC to the real location of Catherine Marshall’s Christy. In the novel, Christy shows up in Cutter Gap, but the place where the real story took place is called Chapel Hollow/Ebenezer Mission and the real Christy gets off the train in Del Rio, TN.

If you’ve never heard of this New York Times bestselling historical novel, here’s a little blurb about it:

The train taking nineteen-year-old teacher Christy Huddleston from her home in Asheville, North Carolina, might as well be transporting her to another world. The Smoky Mountain community of Cutter Gap feels suspended in time, trapped by poverty, superstitions, and century-old traditions.

But as Christy struggles to find acceptance in her new home, some see her--and her one-room school--as a threat to their way of life. Her faith is challenged, and her heart is torn between two strong men with conflicting views about how to care for the families of the Cove.

Yearning to make a difference, will Christy's determination and devotion be enough?

The audiobook read by Kellie Martin (who plays the heroine in the T.V. adaptation of the book) is FABULOUS! (here’s a little article about fact vs fiction in Christy. Also to see some photos of the REAL Christy and mission house, checkthis out.)

The first few photos are from the film site of the t.v. series, which wasn't super far from the actual site, but I see why they didn't choose to film at the actual site because it took my husband's 4-wheel drive to get up the narrow road to the real spot of Chapel Hollow. 

The white church is the actual church in which "David Grantland" preached. The entire building was moved from it's original spot to a little lower down the mountain, I think, some time in the mid 19th century. 

Another interesting discovery on this trip were the miscellaneous gravestones at the church (which is the same church the real David Grantland held service). Hand carved names, poor grammar, words misspelled, and dates etched with simple tools showed a culture who valued their people in death in the best way they could.

Visiting this site on which one of the most-loved stories of Appalachia  was written really spurred a deeper appreciation for the culture I call my own and (paired with family history) influenced the creation of my historical romance novels that are set in the early 1900s Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. 

Have you ever read a book that really captured YOUR culture? Or a book that drew you into a culture with such vibrancy you felt like you were a part of a world very different than your own?

*****************************************************************************

You can learn more about Pepper and her books on her website at www.pepperdbasham.com

 Hey, gang! Erica here. Did you know that the title an author picks out for their book rarely actually goes on the published article?

It's true. An author can have a title of truly poetic and heartbreaking genius, and the publisher will say, "Um, no."

But, why?

There are lots of factors that go into titling a novel. Here are but a few:

1. The author's title too closely resembles another title, either in the publisher's catalog, or that is already famous. Unless you write satire, titles like Grown with the Wind or How to Kill a Mockingbird aren't going to fly.

2. The author's titles don't fit a pattern for the series they wish to create. There's a certain symmetry and rhythm, a similarity that helps tie a series together. The Lost Lieutenant, The Gentleman Spy, The Indebted Earl...they all have the same structure and are part of the Serendipity & Secrets series. They are all 'hero focused.' 

3.  The title doesn't 'sing.' If you've seen the John Wayne movie "The Green Berets" you might remember the character Sgt. Provo, who noticed that all the airfields and buildings of the US army in Vietnam were named after someone who had died in battle. And the names fit the locations. In Provo's estimation, they 'sang.' His dilemma was he couldn't think of anything that fit his own name. (Rest assured, when it came his time, he did find something he declared 'sings.') Your book title choice might be too short, or more often, too long. It might be too alliterative, a tongue twister, though alliterative titles can work. If your title is just the name of your main character, it's most likely going to be changed. Cher and Rhianna can get away with it, but if your title is "Bob" or "Mary" it's not memorable enough to get people talking.

4. It might have to fit a line, like Love Inspired. My title of The Snowflake Bride became His Prairie Sweetheart. My title The Christmas Wish became A Child's Christmas Wish. I submitted a list of possible titles for another Love Inspired Historical, and one of those was chosen: The Bounty Hunter's Baby. Those titles all fit the LIH line, meeting reader expectations. 

5. There may be cultural implications you haven't considered, especially if a title is being published in another language. It may be necessary to change a title that works okay here in the US, but possibly in Dutch or Romanian or Italian might be wrong.

There are a lot of factors that go into titling a book. Marketing, Sales, Editorial, and the publisher are all involved. Often there will be a bit of give and take between the team and the author, with the agent's input, but it's also written into most contracts that the publisher has the final say when it comes to the book's title.

Here are some books that had their titles changed:

George Orwell's 1984 - The Last Man in Europe

Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island - The Sea Cook

Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace - All's Well that Ends Well

Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind - Tomorrow is Another Day

Bram Stoker's Dracula - The Dead Un-Dead

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - Prometheus Unchained

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice - First Impressions

My current work in progress is called Worth the Risk, but I'm not holding it too closely, as the team at Kregel will kick around a lot of ideas before they land on the one they think will sell the best.

 SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

THE ASCENSION*

Jesus' ascension to Heaven depicted by John Singleton Copley in Ascension (1775). [PD-US]

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:16-20

The Seekerville bloggers have been praying for YOU and for our entire blog community. If you have any special intentions that need additional coverage, leave a request for prayer in the comment section below. 

Please pray for our country and for an end to the problems that plague us at this current time, such as the increased cost of fuel and food and the rise in crime. Please pray for world peace, for the protection of our military, law enforcement officers and border agents.   

God bless you and keep you safe.

May the Lord bless all of us throughout this Easter Season with a new appreciation of His mercy and love.  

  *The Ascension was Thursday, May 18, but many churches observe the special day on this Sunday.

Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here. I’ve got a really busy schedule for the next week or so, mainly due to an upcoming release (yaaay!) so I will apologize for the brevity of this post.

What I thought I'd do today is give you a short refresher on how to reveal emotion using show vs tell techniques. Showing emotion rather than simply telling what your character is feeling allows readers to experience characters' feelings along with them, fostering a deeper connection to your characters and so your story..

Let's look at four techniques to help you accomplish this.

1. Use Physical Descriptions:
   Often, our bodies reflect our emotions. A character who is angry might clench their fists, while someone who is nervous could tap their foot incessantly. Instead of saying "Joan was sad," you could write, "Tears welled up in Joan's eyes as she stared at the empty room."
   
   
2.  Dialogue and Voice:
   The way characters speak can reveal their emotional state. A happy character may speak quickly or laugh a lot, while a worried character might stutter or trail off. Consider this example: instead of writing "Emma was worried about her exam," you could show her asking her friend, "Do you think...what if I don't pass?"
   
   
3.  Inner Thoughts and Feelings:
   Getting inside a character's head can be an effective way to show their emotions. Rather than telling the reader, "Jake was angry at his boss," you might write, "Jake replayed his boss's words over and over in his mind, each repetition fueling his simmering resentment."
   
   
4.  Actions and Reactions:
   How your character acts and reacts can say a lot about their emotional state. Instead of stating "Lisa was excited," write, "Lisa couldn't sit still. She kept checking the time, her heart pounding each time the minute hand jumped forward."

Remember, the key to showing emotion is subtlety. It's about painting a picture that allows the reader to infer the characters' feelings from their actions, dialogue, and internal monologues. Practice these techniques, and you'll find your characters coming alive with emotional depth and authenticity.

 What do you think of the above points - do you agree with them? Can you think of other techniques to show a character’s emotion without naming it?  Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for one of my backlist books.

A sharpshooter hiding her identity. A preacher with a guilty past. Will secrets ruin their shot at love?

Violet Taylor leads a double life. She performs in a traveling show as the mysterious Masked Marvel, a daring and commanding sharpshooter. But in real life, she holds back and allows others to lead the way. When an accident puts her arm in a sling, she has to scramble to protect the secret of her identity as the Masked Marvel. So she enlists the help of her identical twin sister, a “townie” dressmaker, to secretly swap places until her arm heals. But that means she must also take on her sister’s role as director of a children’s church program. There’s just one hitch. Her sister sweet on Pastor Carson, the program’s codirector, so Violet has to make sure not to mess anything up with him.

Pastor Carson Davis became guardian to an orphaned nine-year-old six months ago and has been struggling to build a relationship with the boy ever since. It’s to the point where he’s begun to wonder if he’s even fit to be a pastor. Could finding himself a wife who’d be a proper mother figure for his foster son be the solution?

As Violet and Carson work together on the children’s program the attraction between them grows. But awareness of her sister’s feelings and guilt over her deception hold Violet back.
Little does she know that Carson is harboring secrets of his own…

ORDER LINK

 

By Debby Giusti

I'm excited to be with you in Seekerville today, and I'm eager to tell you about my June release from Love Inspired Suspense. You've probably seen the blurb on the weekend edition and some of you may have already ordered the book. If so, thank you! I'm grateful for your support.