Poetry Corner Tuesday

Another song, this one is from my own experiences growing up in my family. What can I say? The holidays are here... a time for sweet memories and flickering candlelight.

My Best Friends
Helping Mommy in the kitchen, licking out the bowl;
When we got an owie, Mommy’s kiss could make us whole;
Wrestling with Daddy, after dishes were done,
Dancing in the living room, memories of fun.

Family bonds
Of love so strong
Growing up together
Made us friends forever
Brothers and sister, my best friends

Running through the sprinkler or playing make-believe
Baseball in the back yard, and climbing up tall trees,
Eating supper together, every single night
Daddy reading stories before turning out the lights.

Family bonds
Of love so strong
Growing up together
Made us friends forever
Brothers and sister, my best friends

And though we grow and live miles apart
These memories always live in my heart
They make me stop, they make me smile
Reminding me for just a while

Family bonds
Of love so strong
Growing up together
Made us friends forever
Brothers and sister, my best friends

And now we’ve grown, we’re miles apart
Sweet memories stay alive in my heart
And though I know childhood must end
I’m never alone, nor without friends

Poetry Corner Tuesday

I much prefer writing song lyrics to just writing poetry. This is a realization I have come to in the past few years. I love writing poetry, but hearing my words turned into music is just one of the most rewarding things I've ever experienced.

This is another song that Brittany commissioned a while back. Another one I don't know if she ever got around to writing music for... but hopefully someday!

This song is based on the story of Chicken Little... but with a twist...

Sky Fall Away
On his head the acorn fell we know the story well
What if that little chicken was too afraid to tell?
Perhaps a lot of others, would not have gotten scared
They also wouldn’t know how much their king really cared.

[chorus]
Sky, fall away, send us running to our King
He will calm our hearts and all fears we may bring.
So sky, fall away, fall away, fall away, fall away

Troubles bring us fears and doubts with questions like, “Why me?”
Caught up in our moment, we can find it hard to see
That big or small, real or imagined, with everything
Like that little chicken we should run straight to the King.

[bridge]
Time and again, in our lives,
We hesitate to do what’s right
Terrified that no one cares
That no one listens to our prayers

[chorus]
Sky, fall away, send us running to our King
He will calm our hearts and all fears we may bring.
So sky, fall away, fall away, fall away

Proof Copy

My proof copy will be here by Wednesday!!!


(it actually shipped TODAY... so it might even get here sooner)

Poetry Corner Tuesday

One of the things I do besides write books, is I am a lyricist for Brittany Jean. Every now and then I'll send her a set of lyrics and ask her to create a song out of them... but more often she will "commission" a set of lyrics. This one was in memory of a classmate of hers in high school who died a few years ago. I don't know if she has put it to music yet, but the story captured me and her ideas for the song just wrapped themselves around my thoughts. It usually takes me a few hours to write a song, but this one came to me in the span of about 20 minutes.

Sailing Into the Arms of God

Sailing away before his time
The pain is ours, we must press on
With heavy hearts we’re left behind.

Are you prepared
To walk on water?
Are you prepared
To meet your King?
When your ship comes
Will you also sail
Into the arms of God?

It’s hard to understand the why
So much left on his horizon
Too strong, too brave, too young to die.

Are you prepared
To walk on water?
Are you prepared
To meet your King?
When your ship comes
Will you also sail
Into the arms of God?

Bridge
If we could just see beyond the veil
That separates us from what’s to come
Even now our hearts would not fail
The faithful will be welcomed home.

Sailing away he goes before
He’s strong and healthy at the prow
Sailing into the arms of the Lord.

Are you prepared
To walk on water?
Are you prepared
To meet your King?
When your ship comes
Will you also sail
Into the arms of God?

Sneak Peek Monday

Thought you might all enjoy a sneak peek at the finished cover of King's Warrior. Excuse me if I sound a little hyper or excited, but I have come to the culmination of two years of very hard work. It has been fun, and it has been gratifying, and it has been satisfying work, but that does not mean it has not been hard, that there have not been tears, that there have not been set-backs.

Last night we had a major set-back, when we realized that the font we had picked for the title was one that was only available for private use, and that buying a commercial license was going to cost one hundred fifty dollars! Needless to say, I cried. (And I felt bad, because Angelina had worked so hard and we thought we were almost finished, only to find out we had to find a completely new font). 

However, Angelina is a miracle worker, and she spent the next two hours working on a new version, and I must say, I love this one as much as I loved the original. Derek says he likes it more, because the old font was (we did not do this intentionally) based on the logo for the Lord of the Rings movies!

Anyway, after all that, the cover was finally complete! I got it submitted last night, and within the next 36 hours I should get the go-ahead to order a proof copy, which means that sometime early next week, I will have physically in my hands the result of all this work we've been pouring out over the past year!

But, of course, the part of this post you're really interested in: what does the new cover look like? Here ya go! :)

Isn't it just beautiful? If you click on it, you can see it larger.

Fabulous Friday

The interior layout for King's Warrior is finished and submitted!!!! Happy dancing ensues.

This is the culmination of nearly two year's worth of re-writing and editing that this book, originally titled The Dragon's Eye, has undergone. The re-write started in March of '09 because 1) I got a lot of helpful feedback from other writer's in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest and 2) I had finally finished the 4th book in the series and realized that my writing style had improved immensely in 8 years, and that my first book was not at all up to the standard of the conclusion of the series.

All that is left is to get the final cover and upload it to CreateSpace, and 5 days from then I will have the proof copy IN HAND! How exciting!!! Yes, I'm overusing exclamation points, it's ok, I mean them.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Nancy

I know she's going to be somewhat embarrassed (and not altogether unpleased) that I included her here, but considering that my mom is the one who taught me how to read and write in the first place, I thought it was important to feature her here in my Tuesday Team member posts. :) And, coincidentally enough... today's post falls on her birthday. (I really didn't realize until I finished writing and got to the scheduling part of this post that it would post on her birthday, but I think it's cool).

At a young age, she instilled a love of the written word in me, both by reading out loud to me and by teaching me how to read for myself, as well as by praying that her children would love reading. Unfortunately for her, she made the mistake of telling me that she had prayed for this, and I definitely used it against her when I was a teenager and she was frustrated that all I wanted to do was read, or that I was staying up too late reading... I distinctly remember saying on more than one occasion, "You prayed for this, remember?"

However, despite having to raise me through my more trying years, she has always believed in me and encouraged me to do my best. Nothing less than my best was good enough, and I'm so thankful she and my dad never let me settle for mediocrity.

I know that the genre I write is not her favorite to read, but she reads them anyway, and tells me she loves them. She gets excited about my books when they are "finished" and in "real book" (i.e. bound) format. Her enthusiasm for my writing, even when it's not the sort of thing she would voluntarily pick up and read if I hadn't written it, means the world to me, and speaks her love in volumes.