Cling to God by Lynda R. Young and NaNoWriMo

I decided to sign up for NaNoWriMo this year in the hopes of finally ending my seemingly endless writing slump. The last time I did NaNo I wrote the story that became The Ghosts of Aquinnah, so I'm hoping I will have the same success this time.

I'm writing a historical mystery that I've been kicking around in my head for years, but got new inspiration for after my trip to Paris over the summer. It takes place in both Cincinnati and France during the World War I era, and it's called A Window Box in Paris. One of the things I loved most about Paris were the beautiful flowers in window boxes all over the city, like this one:

The buildings were already so gorgeous, and these boxes added even more to the city's already considerable charm. So I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that when the end of November rolls around I will have typed "the end" on the first draft of this story!

Anyone else taking part in the NaNo craziness this year? If so, let's cheer each other on. :)

The big news today though is the release of Cling to God by Lynda R. Young. Congratulations, Lynda! I'm happy to have the opportunity to help spread the word about this release. Here is all the info:

Cling to God: A Daily Devotional.

by Lynda R Young

Release date: October 18th, 2016
Published by Freedom Fox Press

Tagline: Cling to God in the chaos of life…

Blurb: Cling to God is a book of devotionals for every day of the year. The aim is to encourage Christians in their faith, to help them think about their beliefs and learn more about God. The devotions are short and inspirational so that people with busy lifestyles will still be able to spend time with the Lord each day. It will appeal to a wide Christian audience, to those new in their faith as well as those matured beyond milk and honey.

Author Bio: Lynda R Young writes devotionals, articles, and speculative short stories. In her spare time she is also an editor, game developer, artist, and dabbles in photography and all things creative. She lives in Australia with her sweetheart of a husband. You can find her here: Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

Links:
http://lyndaryoung.blogspot.com.au
https://twitter.com/LyndaRYoung
https://www.facebook.com/LyndaRYoungAuthor
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5832201.Lynda_R_Young

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K885GR0?ie=UTF8&tag=wi02c-20&camp=1789&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=B01K885GR0

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1939844274?ie=UTF8&tag=wi02c-20&camp=1789&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=1939844274

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cling-to-god-lynda-r-young/1124391767?ean=2940153679464

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cling-to-god-lynda-r-young/1124763872?ean=9781939844279

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/cling-to-god

ITunes: https://fnd.io/#/us/book/1152581816-cling-to-god-by-lynda-r-young

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31821358-cling-to-god

Best wishes to Lynda for a super-successful book launch!

Celebrating Paris!

The full moon over the Seine

Hello, all! I am back from my trip to Paris and I had an amazing trip, to put it mildly. I can now understand why Paris has a reputation as such a special place. To say it is a beautiful city is an understatement!

I am still working on getting back to reality and my brain doesn't seem capable of stringing words together for a proper post at the moment, so I thought I would just share some of my favorite pictures from the trip. I took so many I'm surprised my phone didn't explode. But, in addition to the one above, here are a few that bring back some of my most cherished memories of my week in the City of Light.

The stately and spectacular Arc de Triomphe:

The courtyard of the Louvre, which my niece and I stumbled upon through a back entrance. The museum was closed and, with a lone violinist playing in the background, the place felt like the setting of a fairy tale.

The cafe in St. Germain where I had a yummy lunch and enjoyed champagne cocktails as we sat outside and people-watched.

Inside the Musee D'Orsay:

The stunningly beautiful Sacre Coeur church lit up in the night sky. The church was only a five minute walk from the loft where we stayed in Montmartre.

Of course, I can't celebrate a trip to Paris without a picture of the Eiffel Tower. :)

This post is my entry for this week's Celebrate the Small Things Hop. The hop is hosted by my buddy Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge and Tonja Drecker at Kidbits. Visit Lexa's blog here to find out how join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants.




I'm looking forward to catching up in blogland today and jumping back in in a big way next week when I will be co-hosting the IWSG. Happy weekend, all!

Celebrating Paris & Heart Stopper by Tamara Narayan

Source: Wikimedia Commons

I'm heading to the City of Light next week and I can't wait. This will be my first time in France and my first time on the continent of Europe. The only other time I've been overseas was when I took a trip to England more than ten years ago. I could not be more excited and this trip is what I'm celebrating this week. Honestly it's hard to concentrate on much else. :)

The Celebrate the Small Things hop is hosted by my buddy Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge and Tonja Drecker at Kidbits. Visit Lexa's blog here to find out how join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants.

I also want to help spread the word about Heart Stopper, a new collection of stories from Tamara Narayan. I've just recently met Tamara thanks to this hop so it's great to be able to help out a new friend.

Heart Stopper and Other Stories

By Tamara Narayan

One collection, four stories, 171 pages of suspense...

Heart Stopper: The disappearance of random household items baffles Dallas Radner and his eleven-year-old daughter, Tessa. Ten plastic bags, nine ballpoint pens . . . what's next? This odd countdown should end on November 1, The Day of the Dead. That's also Tessa's birthday and the one-year anniversary of her surgery, the day her heart stopped on the operating table.

Dallas almost lost Tessa once. On November 1, one thing will vanish forever. Will it be his daughter?

Detour: Fed up with her abusive boyfriend, coed Chloe Langley takes off in a borrowed car for the safety of home. She'll never make it.

One Step Away: Acrophobia has ruined Darryl James's marriage and stolen his son. To get Andrew back, Darryl undergoes desensitization therapy. Just as success is within his grasp, a relapse occurs with shocking consequences.

Monitor: Perched on a mountain with a view to die for, Laura and Paul Alderson have it all: new house, new baby, and new challenges. But urgent whispers from the baby monitor about her infant son and the garage threaten to turn Laura's American dream into a nightmare.

Available on Amazon ($2.99)

Author Blog: www.tamaranarayan.com

Congratulations and best of luck to Tamara!

I don't think I will be around in blogland again until I am back from my trip so I hope everyone has a great few weeks ahead. :)

Friday Celebrations & a Freebie

It's Friday and that means it's time to Celebrate the Small Things.

The Celebrate the Small Things hop is hosted by my buddy Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge and Tonja Drecker at Kidbits. Visit Lexa's blog here to find out how join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants.

This week I'm celebrating:

1. I've started working with the illustrator who is doing the art for Baby Moo's Great Escape and this week I got to see the first picture for the book. I absolutely LOVE it! I can't tell you what a thrill it was to open this picture and see my cow, dog, and cat so adorably drawn. It gave me such a rush of energy and made me excited about my writing again. I can't wait to be able to share some sneak peeks of the artwork.

2. Unless something totally unexpected happens, the book will be published in September. That means I will have it in my hands in time for a Pumpkin Festival book fest I plan to attend in October.

3. I'm going to Paris in July and it's almost July! I've never been to France before and I'm so excited about this trip. I can't believe it's almost time to go.

Also, my Polar Night prequel The Turnagain Arm is free on Amazon through tomorrow, June 26. If you'd like to check out the series and haven't already, click here to pick up this novella for free.

What are you celebrating this week? I hope everyone has a great weekend ahead. :)