Remember when i wrote my book?
In a moment of rare confidence, we made the order of books to distribute.
& i felt my cheeks turn crimson & blinked back tears of shame, my confidence completely gone, as that box of books came through the door. i could hear the voice of the accuser in my ear saying, "Who's gonna want to read that anyway? You're kind of dumb... "
& my children squealed and ran to get a knife to open that box & pull out all those glossy copies... & i groaned... sick to my stomach.
& then my friend Lisa emailed me... "Can i come by & pick up a book? Tonight?"
& she came... like a little bustling Hero up my steps & into my house. She shoved ten bucks in my hand & grinned at me, "i can't wait to read it! Seeya!"
& just like that... my first copy walked out the door.
Over the next weeks, friends and family picked up copies & gradually, that big box emptied & finally i sold the last of them & had to order more...
Anyway, all this to say... that writing... (this blog & my little book)... takes every ounce of courage that i possess.
i know...
i'm not very courageous.
& i might have just crumbled if friends hadn't come along... & cheered for me... when i was too shy to put myself out there. Bloggy friends reviewed my book & organized give aways. Others surprised me by posting reviews on Amazon & still others wrote me heartfelt encouraging notes.
Putting yourself out there is scary... Some people... (maybe most people?!)... won't like whatever it is you've created.
& it's so hard to lay your soul bare & hear, "meh..." in response. Sometimes you don't even want to take the risk.
This year, friends of mine - Dave & Janna McPhee put themselves out there & created something - music full of truth... & a good, heaping, (pressed down, shaken together and running over) measure of beauty too.
i'm so glad they did. It's so good, so honest, so encouraging & edifying.
i wanna share it with you.
You can check it out HERE.
(or i bought my copy on itunes)... & can i say... that if you don't want to risk buying the whole album on my say so :) that my favourite song lately has been How Beautiful.
(They have a facebook page too, if you 'like' that kind of thing ;) HERE).
Anyway... artists, musicians, writers... mamas who aren't paid, but blog anyway, people who try to create beauty (& the ones who succeed amazingly, like Dave & Janna)... this is me, tipping my hat to you. i know how freaking hard it is. Be faithful in sharing what He gives you to share. Play for the audience of ONE when nobody listens, nobody reads, nobody sees, because this world can always use a little more truth and beauty.
My mom always said there were 2 kinds of people; those who create & those who tear down. i wanna be counted among those who build up & create... The company here is fabulous.
********************************
ps - nobody asked me to review this album, i'm just sharing it 'cause it has been meeting a cry in my heart lately & i'm grateful for it.
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Thursday Thoughts & Winner Announcement
* Woke up to the news that Cai passed her grade 6 violin exam with honors. Kinda proud.
* i miss my travellin' man. i miss him before he leaves & after he comes home 'cause i know he's going again.
* We are into Fiddler on the Roof these days - my favourite is when they imitate the dance that goes with, "If I Were a Rich Man" - funny, funny stuff. Sunrise, Sunset makes me cry.
* i'm not quite sure how to organize my days as we transition into summer. We're still finishing off some stuff & long done other stuff. Days still seem full - but less organized and that makes it harder to juggle. i can't even fathom the fall and all the little pieces that need to fit into a master plan. These years are nothing short of amazing.
* We are reading the book of Genesis right now & some of the stories are not G rated. Praying for wisdom while putting off some questions & answering others. Discussion is morphing and changing as my littles grow & i'm so grateful for this chance to study God's Word with my crew.
* Ephraim and Neil have their own language. They rarely speak english. Neil walks in the backdoor to get another cup of coffee & Ephraim is the first to greet him with their funny little growl. Is there anything better than watching your man with your babes?
****************************************************
* The winner of the pdf of Bryan Cohen's book "Writing Prompts for Kids" is Deborah! Congrats, Deb! Bryan has your email address & will be sending out your prize within the next few days.
i got the results for the $50 Amazon gift card & the winner was from a different site. Bummer. i was really hoping one of you would take it :) If any of you choose to purchase his book, you can contact the author with proof of purchase & he'll send you 50 extra writing prompts specific to homeschool - kinda fun :) His email is bryandavidcohen @ gmail . com (only take out the spaces - didn't want him to get spammed on my account :)
* i miss my travellin' man. i miss him before he leaves & after he comes home 'cause i know he's going again.
* We are into Fiddler on the Roof these days - my favourite is when they imitate the dance that goes with, "If I Were a Rich Man" - funny, funny stuff. Sunrise, Sunset makes me cry.
* i'm not quite sure how to organize my days as we transition into summer. We're still finishing off some stuff & long done other stuff. Days still seem full - but less organized and that makes it harder to juggle. i can't even fathom the fall and all the little pieces that need to fit into a master plan. These years are nothing short of amazing.
* We are reading the book of Genesis right now & some of the stories are not G rated. Praying for wisdom while putting off some questions & answering others. Discussion is morphing and changing as my littles grow & i'm so grateful for this chance to study God's Word with my crew.
* Ephraim and Neil have their own language. They rarely speak english. Neil walks in the backdoor to get another cup of coffee & Ephraim is the first to greet him with their funny little growl. Is there anything better than watching your man with your babes?
****************************************************
* The winner of the pdf of Bryan Cohen's book "Writing Prompts for Kids" is Deborah! Congrats, Deb! Bryan has your email address & will be sending out your prize within the next few days.
i got the results for the $50 Amazon gift card & the winner was from a different site. Bummer. i was really hoping one of you would take it :) If any of you choose to purchase his book, you can contact the author with proof of purchase & he'll send you 50 extra writing prompts specific to homeschool - kinda fun :) His email is bryandavidcohen @ gmail . com (only take out the spaces - didn't want him to get spammed on my account :)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
a review!
Teaching writing has never been my forte.
We have some prolific and some reluctant writers amongst our little crew - & no thanks to my painful efforts to teach writing - they're learning.
i've already written about our "summer school" supplies including a fresh faced little journal for each child to write in daily over our summer break, and this past year we successfully made it our goal to daily write "something, anything".
About a month ago, i was asked to write a product review - & since so many kind hearted friends reviewed my novel, i decided what goes around comes around & i'd take a look at his book & see what i thought.
Brian Cohen sent me a pdf of his book titled, "500 Writing Prompts for Kids: First Grade through Fifth Grade". Now, i'll admit here that what he provides in his book could easily be accessed by a google search for writing prompts - o yeah, trust me i've done that before... But here, in one tidy little package, he provides 500 thoughtful questions complete with the natural follow up included, "... *why do you think that*? and *how did that make you feel*?" (that little ones like mine might have neglected to answer in their hurriedly scrawled four word response to the original writing prompt), giving them further inspiration to get their ideas down. He makes it easy to sift through to find what we're looking for by dividing the 500 prompts into categories like: Memorable Events, Relationships, Technology, Life Lessons and even a 'Grab Bag' section. He also includes a small appendix giving suggestions for ways to use the prompts.
His book (available on amazon here) is a neat little tool that might fill a need in a homeschool where mama is tired of hearing, "But i don't know *what* to write about...."
*** Here is a word from the author on your chance to win a sweet give away***
"Author Bryan Cohen is doing a giveaway of his book 500 Writing Prompts for Kids for the next week along with a grand prize drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card! Simply post your e-mail address and you are entered in the drawing for one digital copy of the book on this site (there are over 10 sites involved in the giveaway, with one winner of a book per site). One lucky winner will be picked from all the sites to win a $50 Amazon gift card. If Bryan's book, 500 Writing Prompts for Kids reaches the top 500 in sales this week, he will add another $50 Amazon gift card to the drawing. The drawing will occur on June 22nd, so post away! Visit his website at Build Creative Writing Ideas. "
We have some prolific and some reluctant writers amongst our little crew - & no thanks to my painful efforts to teach writing - they're learning.
i've already written about our "summer school" supplies including a fresh faced little journal for each child to write in daily over our summer break, and this past year we successfully made it our goal to daily write "something, anything".
About a month ago, i was asked to write a product review - & since so many kind hearted friends reviewed my novel, i decided what goes around comes around & i'd take a look at his book & see what i thought.
Brian Cohen sent me a pdf of his book titled, "500 Writing Prompts for Kids: First Grade through Fifth Grade". Now, i'll admit here that what he provides in his book could easily be accessed by a google search for writing prompts - o yeah, trust me i've done that before... But here, in one tidy little package, he provides 500 thoughtful questions complete with the natural follow up included, "... *why do you think that*? and *how did that make you feel*?" (that little ones like mine might have neglected to answer in their hurriedly scrawled four word response to the original writing prompt), giving them further inspiration to get their ideas down. He makes it easy to sift through to find what we're looking for by dividing the 500 prompts into categories like: Memorable Events, Relationships, Technology, Life Lessons and even a 'Grab Bag' section. He also includes a small appendix giving suggestions for ways to use the prompts.
His book (available on amazon here) is a neat little tool that might fill a need in a homeschool where mama is tired of hearing, "But i don't know *what* to write about...."
*** Here is a word from the author on your chance to win a sweet give away***
"Author Bryan Cohen is doing a giveaway of his book 500 Writing Prompts for Kids for the next week along with a grand prize drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card! Simply post your e-mail address and you are entered in the drawing for one digital copy of the book on this site (there are over 10 sites involved in the giveaway, with one winner of a book per site). One lucky winner will be picked from all the sites to win a $50 Amazon gift card. If Bryan's book, 500 Writing Prompts for Kids reaches the top 500 in sales this week, he will add another $50 Amazon gift card to the drawing. The drawing will occur on June 22nd, so post away! Visit his website at Build Creative Writing Ideas. "
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