ŷ������

I’ve been told by several authors that you aren’t a REAL writer until you have rejections under your writing belt. I don’t know if the same rule applies for agent rejections, but I’ve definitely had those too. About nine specific rejection letters and over ten “no responses�� �� and those all happened over a two year period of time.

Let’s not even start calculating my manuscript rejections :-)

At ACFW 2011, I had a chance to have dinner with an editor. I didn’t really pitch. She didn’t really ask. We just talked. It was a nice conversation, followed by a few other conversations throughout the remainder of the conference. Just before leaving the conference she said, “Hey, when you get an agent, I want to read your work. Okay?��

Sure.

Fabulous.

So I queried 5 agents after the conference. FIVE. And I’d actually met 4 of the 5 in person at the conference. AND I was a Genesis double-finalist. That had to count for something, right?

Nothin��. Nada. Zilch.

For nine months this ‘baby�� didn’t go anywhere.

I assumed it was because my stories didn’t really ‘fit�� with what was selling in CBA. Rom Com wasn’t the top genre. My historcals walked on the edge with some of their content.

Self-doubt reared its ugly head on many occasions. I carried insecurities around like a pack of gum. Was I just dreaming too big? Missing the mark? Living on stardust and daydreams?

After all, I’d been seriously writing for over seven years at the time of ACFW 2011 with no ‘happily-ever-after�� in sight :-)

BUT, like the obedient flunky I was, I kept doing what Ruth Logan Herne and Mary Connealy told me to do. I kept writing.

In July I finished another novel and posted my excitement on Facebook. Low and behold, the editor saw my comment and replied, “Hey, when are you going to send me something to read?��

To which I replied. “You told me not to send anything until I had an agent. I still don’t�� have one, so I haven’t sent anything.��

Then the most amazing thing happened! She asked me to compose a cover letter and she would send it out to agents for me. Agents she thought would be a good match for me.

I was overwhelmed. Floored. Humbled.

And did exactly what she said.

When two agents emailed me, I sent my proposals. They both responded quickly and favorably.

Then at ACFW, I had the opportunity to meet Nicole �� one of the agents recommended to me. She seemed as excited about my stories as I was. She was funny, sweet, and savvy �� plus she had a great sense of style. There was an immediate match. (Look at that GREAT smile!)

And she told me she would like to represent me.

I told her that I thought we had a great connection, but I wanted to think and pray about it first.

So I did. And consulted close writing friends. And prayed some more.

And I knew it was right.

When I heard her beautiful acceptance speech as Agent of the Year, it just confirmed what a special lady she was.

End of story?

Not quite.

It was the last day of conference before I had the chance to talk to the editor who set this up. She was the same editor in which I’d had the lovely conversations in the beginning of this post. Remember? We’d missed each other throughout the conference, but in God’s good time, we were both in the lobby waiting to leave for the airport at the same time. I went up to her and told her about what happened with Nicole and she smiled. “I’m so proud of you.��

To which I replied. “I can’t thank you enough. You didn’t have to do that. It’s not your job to find me an agent.��

She answered, “I believe in you.��

And I said, �� You’ve never even read my writing before. How can you believe in me?��

(I will NEVER forget her answer. EVER. I still get tears in my eyes thinking about it) She said, “Pepper, I didn’t say I believed in your writing. I said, I believe in you.��

It was as if the voice of God sliced through all the chaos of the moment, all the emotional baggage of my past rejections, all the doubts in my heart, all the questions and insecurities, and used this editor to speak directly to my spirit.

“I believe in you.��

Wow.

End of story?

not quite.

Through a lovely turn of events, the same lady who told me ‘I believe in you’…the same editor who sat and encouraged me at dinner, the same woman who set up my meeting with my former agent, Nicole, became my NEW agent almost ONE year AGO �� and lots has happened in a year.

Thankfully, JULIE GWINN still believes��in me even now��.and has for a long time.

She’s one of the best encouragers, brainstormers, and believers I know out there! I’m so glad she’s on my team!

It’s a great human example of a divine concept.

CHRIST is our greatest cheerleader, biggest fan, and the One who believes in us the most.

He may give us great and amazing talents. He may bring us fame and recognition. He may shower us with opportunities to spread His word through our writing.

But at the heart of it all, He’s doing a whole lot more than those things.

He’s letting His kids know that He believes in them.

Enough to take on the Devil, Death, and Hell.

Our writing is just an extension of what’s happening inside of us. Who we are in Him.

And with His faith in us spurring us forward, we are equipped to do great and marvelous things…whether those “great and marvelous�� things are meant to minister to a small number of 1 or a great number of MORE.

He believes in you.

He believes in me.

We are His.

I am thrilled to help celebrate the release of Dawn Crandall’s newest novel, The Captive Imposter.

Besides the book being set in a deletable time period (gilded age), Dawn’s writing is fast-paced, descriptive, and incredibly emotive. This book in particular had all the wonderful makings of a fantastic romance. A deeply wounded young woman, Estella Everstone may have grown up as an heiress, but now at the request of her family, she’s living the charade of a companion to an older woman. Despite her prosperous life, she has a somewhat innocent heart and despises the lie she must live. But an unexpected change of plans places her directly in the path of a remarkable and unexpected man �� Dexter Blakely. Theirs in a tenuous and intriguing start which grows into a sweet and beautiful friendship �� the type for which Estella has never known. But Dexter’s life is to take good care of and oversee the running of Everston, Estella’s family’s opulent mountain hotel, so what will happen when Dexter finds out who Estella truly is? And with her former fiance reminding her of the wounds in her past, Estella may be in more trouble than she imagined.

Sigh��.definitely worth the journey to find out! Sweet, funny, and emotional depth all wrapped up in a well-written story of hope, faith, and trusting God who holds all the riches in his hands and creates people for his glory (regardless of class). And…might I add, Dawn includes the beautiful Appalachian mountains in this story. Makes me even happier because I LOVE Appalachia, whether in lovely Maine or nearer my neck of the woods!!

Find out more about this book and the author below:

Sent away for protection, hotel heiress Estella Everstone finds herself living undercover as a lady’s companion named Elle Stoneburner at one of her father’s opulent hotels in the mountains of Maine—the one she’d always loved best and always hoped to own one day, Everston. The one thing she doesn’t like about the situation is that her ex-fiancé is in the area and is set on marrying someone else. Reeling from her feelings of being unwanted and unworthy, Estella reluctantly forms a friendship with the gruff manager of Everston, Dexter Blakeley, who seems to have something against wealthy young socialites with too much money, although they are just the kind of people Everston caters to.



When Estella finds herself in need of help, Dexter comes to the rescue with an offer she can’t refuse. She sees no other choice aside from going back home to her family and accepts the position as companion to his sister. Throughout her interactions with Dexter, she can’t deny the pull that’s evidenced between them every time he comes near. Estella realizes that while she’s been hiding behind a false name and identity, she’s never been freer to be herself than when she’s with Dexter Blakeley. But will he still love her when he finds out she’s Estella Everstone? She’s not entirely sure.

A graduate of Taylor University with a degree in Christian Education, and a former bookseller at Barnes & Noble, Dawn Crandall didn’t begin writing until her husband found out about her long-buried dream of writing a book. Without a doubt about someday becoming traditionally published, he encouraged her to quit her job in 2010 in order to focus on writing The Hesitant Heiress. It didn’t take her long to realize that writing books was what she was made to do.��The Everstone Chronicles is Dawn’s first series with Whitaker House. All three books in��the series were semifinalists in ACFW’s prestigious Genesis Writing Contest, the third book going on to become a finalist in 2013.

Connect:

Want to connect with Dawn and learn more about this series? Here are some ways to do just that:

Blog:

Facebook:

Book Review Blog: APassionforPages.blogspot.com

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/dawn_crandall

Pinterest:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @dawnwritesfirst

Amazon:

Disney Enterprises Inc.

My daughters and I went to see the new Disney movie, Cinderella, recently. Oh my, what a fantastic movie! The sweetness of Cinderella, the quirkiness of the fairy godmother, the ruthlessness of the step-mother, the ‘charm�� of the prince?

Truly charming.

They did a fantastic job of taking the endearing animated version and bringing out a deeper thread through this version. Prince Charming had a personality!!

Now, I’m a cry-er anyway �� and I cried twice in this movie (along with my oldest daughter), but there was such a sweetness to the family stories of both Cinderella and Kit (the prince). They both had been loved deeply by their parents, and in return you see this beautiful amount of love they share with others around them.

The overarching theme, that is repeated on several occasions, is “Have Courage and Be Kind��. What a fantastic theme to share with anybody, let alone the thousands of girls watching. Throughout the movie, Cinderella is constantly putting these to qualities into action, through her interaction with her stepmother and sisters, of course, but also in her kindness to the mice, the fairy godmother, and even the king.

She’s utterly endearing and if Prince Charming didn’t fall for her, we’d have his head examined for certain! :-)

But in all these sweet moments, something stood out to me more than any other in the whole movie.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

At the end of the movie, when the glass slipper fits and she’s getting ready to leave her family home behind, she turns to her stepmother and says “I forgive you.��

Whoa! Now THAT takes the ultimate courage and the ultimate kindness!!

To be able to forgive someone who has mistreated us, slandered us, abused us, been cruel to us? It is a feat of courage that shakes the very core of a human. How can we even do it? Because we recognize the ultimate kindness! One fuels the other.

Forgiveness is ‘powerful magic�� because it has the ability to hit the deepest, darkest places with a light of reformation! It can be shocking, counter-cultural, a relief. With it comes peace, reconciliation, release!

You know where I’m going with this?

The Ultimate Courage and the Ultimate Kindness was found in the very holiday we celebrated a few weeks ago. Christ, the perfect one, had the courage and the kindness to take on the cross, death, hell, and the grave. He wore the cloak of God’s wrath, felt the soul-ripping loneliness of being separated from his Father, carried the burden of shame equal to the sins of eternity! Courageous? You bet. Kind��.like nothing else in all of history.

He did all this so that he could turn to us and say “I forgive you�� for everything you have done or will do. “I forgive you�� for your rebellion and pride. Your doubt and lies. Your self-righteousness and anger. “I forgive you�� and NOW you are ready to be with me in my home��

Oh, what a love!

So, with his strength and wisdom to guide and support us, we can truly face this world with the ability to

Have Courage and Be Kind.

So I made my plans.

And God chuckled.

My grand and glorious debut was all planned for May 7th �� the centennial of the sinking of the Lusitania. Then��. in a wonderful surprise, my publisher sent me an email on Sunday evening that said ‘We are going digital along with Library Journal’s great review��. (I paraphrased Dawn’s words, of course)

The digital version of The Thorn Bearer went live on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, GooglePlay, and some other things that I don’t even know about, on April 13th 2015 and the response has been overwhelming.

I expected a lot of things with a book release. Hard work. Marketing ideas. Hard work. Extra emails. Temporarily less time to write.�� Bad reviews. Hard work��. :-)

But I wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming kindness. The joy others expressed from my words on a page. The sweetness of readers, friends, and other authors�� support. The willingness, the ready willingness, the exhibited to share my news over and over again.

It’s been amazing, humbling, and a reminder of the beauty of gratitude.

I know the Kindle ratings are temporary and the reviews will slow down, but for this moment…it’s a reminder of the sweetness of God’s love, the beauty of friendship, the energy in spreading great news, and (I hope) the power of a good story.

Thanks to all who have made this first debut week so amazing!

Pepper

If you’re interested in checking out my debut, you can find it on

or

Have you ever heard the saying, “God answers prayer in three different ways: yes, no, and wait�� ?

Each one of those answers bring their own specific challenges and rewards, but none challenges more than��.wait. At least with ‘yes�� and ‘no��, there is a definite end, closure �� even if we don’t like the answer, but with ‘wait��? Well, there is uncertainty, longing perhaps, worry. It doesn’t suit our fast-food mentalities of the 21st century :-)

Let’s look at each answer, and of course I’ll add an example. I love examples.

YES

When my oldest daughter, Lydia, was almost 3, she started praying for a baby sister. EVERY night she’d pray. “God, please send me a baby sister.��

Now, we weren’t thinking of growing our family anymore, especially not any time soon, but not long after she started praying, I became pregnant (much to my shock and my mother’s horror :-) For nine months, Lydia thanked God for her baby sister. Needless to say, when I called her from the hospital to inform her of the birth of her baby BROTHER, she said, “Are you sure?��

So, the next week she started praying AGAIN �� with great fervor. She was certain. God was going to answer yes. So��15 months after Samuel was born, God brought Phoebe into the world. He answered with a BIG (and quite cute) YES. The result? Great joy �� and continued shock �� and a bit of humbling toward the parents who realized their daughter’s faith and faithfulness in prayer were��absolutely beautiful!!

What about when God answers, No?

Eleven years ago, before Samuel the ‘suprise kid��, I became pregnant (yes, it’s a recurring theme for me). Anyway, only a few weeks after finding out about my pregnancy I started to bleed…and then pray. I prayed for the little baby to be safe. For all to be well. For healing, if there was any troubles.

I miscarried.

We often associate God saying ‘no�� as a harsh or unkind answer. I don’t know the reason why he didn’t bring that child into the world, but I DO know that God loves me…more than anyone does or ever will. His choice in saying ‘no�� is a part of a bigger plan for my life. In fact, he’s given me opportunities to use the hurt, and growth from that experience to minister to others in teh same situation. Out of the pain has come great blessing and understanding.

Wait

No one likes to wait. It’s not fun…unless maybe waiting for Christmas.

For kids

The parents become a bit tired of havnig the kids ask 400 times a day “how many days until Christmas?�� :-)

God’s answers are not always what we’d choose, but somehow in his grand mercy and plan, he always answers for the best. Whether the answer is ‘yes��, ‘no��, or ‘wait��.

What answer has he given you recently? How have you found the strength to live with his answer?

I think most people’s lives are full of little secrets, don’t you? I can’t think of too many people who don’t have a few �� who are completely authentic.

I started thinking about this when my grandmother passed away a few years ago. Over the months following her death, my mom and aunts cleaned through granny’s room, digging in places only Granny had been. The dresser drawers, the boxes in corners, and the ‘off limits�� closet at the end of the hallway. Boxes and envelopes and pages upon pages of history, notes, pictures, receipts��. anything we’d ever want to know about Granny.

You know what?

After going through all of those personal, and sometimes intimately personal things, they didn’t find ONE��ITEM that shed a negative light on her. No journal entry of frustration. No receipt of a questionable purchase. No love letters from anyone except her husband. No brow-raising books.

Nothing.

Only a plethora of��pictures,��notes sent to her from her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids,��and Bible verses written on scrap paper.

All the ‘secrets�� that were unearthed about her after her death, weren’t secrets at all. They only confirmed that she was EXACTLY who she always seemed to be.

It doesn’t mean she didn’t sin or fail. She needed Jesus just like the rest of us �� but she lived life in the real.

If people went through our ‘secret�� things, would the find what they expected? Would the pages of your journal or the corners of yoru drawers only prove to confirm who you seemed to be?

No matter how much we may try to hide the truth, God’s known us��to our cores���� all the way to our thoughts. He’s searched through the layers of our feelings, the shadows of our memories, and even sifted through our darkest thoughts. He’s not surprised �� and although He might find things we’ve tried to hide, He loves us anyway. An AMAZING sort of love

Time is closing in on my debut novel’s release day!! I can’t believe it’s only a little over a month away!

This week I had two FIRSTS to lead up to next month’s release.

My very first radio interview as an author!!

AND

The arrival of my bookmarks.

Now I have to say, Dianne Barker with Spirit FM was so sweet and eased my nervousness with her kindness. Interestingly enough, about five years ago, Dianne and I had enjoyed lunch together in Johnson CIty, TN and discussed the aspect of trying to get published. For her, it was an attempt to reenter the publishing world. For me, it was a dream of finally getting published.

Funny how we had the opportunity to reconnect after all those years for this interview. I’m in constant awe of God’s weaving past moments and present ones together in surprising ways.

Then THE BOOKMARKS CAME!!!

Since my personal writing funds are in short supply at present, I had to design my own bookmarks, which is a daunting task. When they arrived on Tuesday, I was so tickled with the outcome �� and they provided the first ‘tangible�� momentum of the publishing journey!

So…the countdown has begun for the release of The Thorn Bearer!

As a writer, what are some things you’ve done to prepare for a book release?

As a reader, what sorts of things have you seen authors do for their book releases that you enjoyed?

In the beginning was��

The story

It’s true. If you start with Christian (or Jewish or Muslim) history, “Genesis�� even means ‘an origin, creation, or beginning��.

The Genesis of God’s story was creation.

But we can really sum up the entire Bible into one sentence.

What is the Bible about?

God rescuing His people.

A Father rescuing His children.

Pure and simple.

The BIG picture of the Bible isn’t about mighty men and women of God overcoming massive obstacles �� although (with God’s strength) some of them do.

It’s not about amazing historical (and miraculous) events �� although there are many.

At the heart of the Bible �� it’s all about RESCUE! Rescue and love!

As a Christian, this should encourage you (and me).

Though our 2010 might not have been a year of celebration, or amazing things. In the grand scheme of things, it’s another piece to God’s BIG puzzle of rescue. His giant story of finding His lost children and bringing them back home.

There’s a great deal of comfort in the truth that All things work together for them who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)

We see our lives like this:

We’re looking through the lens of a camera. All we can see is the small square of site through the lens. ��And what we see may look like a barren, deserted, wasteland��

Until we step back from the lens and see the ‘big picture�� to realize we’re staring at a small piece of the Grand Canyon.

(I’ve included several examples of this concept in my pics for the post. Check them out. If you only see a part of the picture, you’re interpretation is skewed �� until you see the FULL picture. THEN you can understand how that small piece you saw through the lens, fits into the BIG picture)

We only see a piece of our lives, but God sees the whole span of eternity.

And our rescue is a part of His Master plan.

Because He loves us THAT much.

I want to leave you with these FABULOUS verses from I Corinthians 13, as paraphrased from The Message.

12We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

��13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

May you trust God to the Big Picture of your life and Rest in His LOVE for 2011.

For more on ‘beginnings and writing��, check out my Writers Alley post on Monday, Jan 3 at

It’s all about the ‘beginning of stories��.

Blessings,

I’m new to having my book ‘out there�� for people to read. Since beginning this writing journey toward publication (about 11 years ago), my stories have stayed within a select and somewhat limited audience of friends, family, and close fellow writers, but now with the upcoming release of my first publication, I finding a new side to the writing world.

A big, scary, amazing, daunting, and rewarding side too. Where I finally see how the words God stirred in my heart to place on a page can touch the hearts of others.

It’s hard to believe, but I’m ever grateful and extremely humbled by the initial reactions.

Yes, I’m sure there are going to be readers that do not like it or it didn’t match their expectations. We all have preferences, so that makes sense to me �� but for right now, I’m going to enjoy this initial wave of surprise and delight!

Monday started with a beautiful endorsement from Rel Mollet of .

Tuesday, I received my first full review from Charity Andrews at

and Wednesday, I ordered my very first book��.bookmarks!!

I write because God’s created a love for story in my heart. To see how this love can be a blessing to others is overwhelming, amazing, and fills my heart to the full with gratitude.

Remind me of this post later…when I’ve received my first 1-star review or when I’m on deadline and feel the weight of ‘failure�� creeping in like a shadow, but right now, I’ll revel in thanksgiving for this opportunity to take the inspiration of God’s gift to touch and inspire others.

Your days are numbered.

Did you know that?

As in:

1

45

16,782

Numbered.

And not ONE of them is worthless or unimportant.

Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days so we may gain a heart of wisdom.��

Whoa. So, how do we number our days? Well, the first few verses in that chapter give us some clues. It’s basically this:

Realizing who WE are and what We’ve done in the light of realizing who GOD is and what HE’S done.

Moses starts the Psalm by talking about the greatness and eternality of God.

v. 2 �� “Before the mountains were born

������or you brought forth the whole world,

������from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

So, basically �� we must try to see our lives from God’s perspective, since He’s been around a bit longer than we have, and knows a whole lot more than we ever could.

To make sure we get the point, Moses goes on to describe our humanness and mortality.

v. 5 �� Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death��

������they are like the new grass of the morning:

6 In the morning it springs up new,

������but by evening it is dry and withered.

Or

v. 9-10 �� All our days pass away under your wrath;

������we finish our years with a moan.

10 Our days may come to seventy years,

������or eighty, if our strength endures;

yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,

������for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Pretty gloomy sounding, isn’t it?

Almost in one breath �� life is here, then it’s gone.

Does it matter to us?

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with being my own god.

With living my life as if it is going to go on forever, and forgetting why I was created.

I forget that by original design, this world is not my home and the things of it are as frail as a snowflake.

I live my life as if I am the author of my future, the keeper of my past, and the conqueror of my present, but I deceive myself.

The eternal Time Keeper sees the big picture of my life �� the good, the bad, and the ugly- and weaves them all together to make me into a child fit for Heaven.

The troubles, the trials, the heartache and pain, serve a grander purpose. Moses�� words help us put grief and trials in their proper place:

See verses 14-17, particularly verse 15:

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

for as many years as we have seen trouble.

16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,

your splendor to their children.

17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;

������establish the work of our hands for us��

������yes, establish the work of our hands.

It’s really all about seeing things from the right perspective. Who we are and who He is.

If his ‘unfailing love�� truly satisfies us, then whatever the ‘affliction�� or ‘trouble��, we can ‘sing for joy�� and ‘be glad all our days��, because we recognize the extravagance of the Father’s love.

When we are satisfied with His ‘unfailing love�� �� then everything else falls into its proper place. Our deeds and our ‘works�� no longer control us, but are controlled by the Holy Spirit in us.

The number of our days no longer matter �� it’s how we fill each one of those days that begins to shape our points of view.

I don’t know about you, but I really need to get my mind off of me �� and onto Jesus!

Check out a picture that speaks a thousand words about the Glory of God�� by visiting Jon England’s site here:

Truly, this picture looked like it belong with a prayer.

Blessings,

Pepper