Brain Food

To our college students and young working adults: Why not get out the biscuits (Brit talk for cookies) and/or the tea cakes and the tea. Take a much-deserved break and listen to a great interview–brain food I call this one. The link below will take you to Online Conversation / Reading Jane Austen: A Novel Approach to Virtue with Karen Swallow Prior.

In this interview Professor Prior talks about Jane Austin, Austin’s perspectives on life and faith, and how her books were strikingly different for their time (and maybe even for our own). If you are an Austin fan, the conversation will deepen your appreciation for and understanding of the novels. And if you are not a fan, it may encourage you to take another look at this amazing writer and her thoughtful, entertaining novels. (The movies, for the most part, Prior says, don’t do enough by them.)

https://www.ttf.org/portfolios/online-conversation-reading-jane-austen/

Author Interview–Nancy Ellen Hird

We don’t usually direct you to other blogs or other websites. But today I am. I’m putting up a link to an author interview on Heart Soul Mind because Nancy Ellen Hird (me–or should it be I?) is the author being interviewed.

I think John and Jenny Fulton did an awfully good job. They asked me some thoughtful questions about writing I Get a Clue and We  All Get a Clue.  You might find the interview good reading. I hope  so.

Welcome Wednesday: Adventures in Edinburgh with Nancy Ellen Hird

Nancy Ellen Hird is a mom, a writer and a credentialed teacher. (She taught seventh grade and preschool.)  Her latest works for children are I Get a Clue and We All Get a Clue, mystery novels for girls 10-13. For several years she was a freelance reviewer of children’s and teen’s literature for the Focus on the Family website.

Valentine’s Day–a Gift Suggestion for a Special Loved One

21 Days of Love, compiled by Kathy Ide and published by Broadstreet (2016) is a must-read for Valentine’s Day. It is creative, heartwarming and insightful. Not your ordinary collection of flowers and romance, this book shares true-to-life tales of all different types of love, focusing on God’s love as the primary and most important of all. Women, ages 18 and above, will find this a good read.

There are twenty-one amazing stories with a wide range of relationships–sweethearts, spouses, parents and children, grandparents, friends, pets, caregivers and couples from other countries. I enjoyed reading each story and learned something from each one. The main theme of the book is that God should be the center of all relationships. With His guiding hand, all love relationships will be greatly enhanced. I would like to highlight a few of my favorite stories.

The story I could relate to the most, A Finger and a Big Toe, by Nancy Ellen Hird, is about a young mother who is troubled because no matter how hard she tries, the woman she wants to have a significant relationship with, isn’t responding with equal interest. I think this is a common issue in the friendships among women. We often seek a friendship with someone and are disappointed when it doesn’t work out the way we had planned.

Becky and Carla are good friends, but Becky also is seeking the friendship of Jennifer, a woman she works with in a volunteer organization and whom she admires greatly. She tries unsuccessfully to reach out to Jennifer and make time for them to get to know each other. When Jennifer doesn’t respond, Becky is upset.

While at a church event with Carla, Becky sees Jennifer and learns that Jennifer and her family are planning to move in the near future. Becky is stunned. On the way home, she tells Carla about her disappointment.

Carla gives encouraging advice and shows Becky that perhaps God had a reason for preventing the friendship to blossom. Becky realizes how blessed she is with a friend like Carla, and learns an age-old lesson of trust and obedience to God’s plan. I believe this story can encourage others to place God at the center of their relationships.

Another story I particularly liked is Desert Crossing, by Dona Watson. It is the story of Lori, the mother of a nineteen year-old son named Josh. Her husband David is away with the military, deployed in the Middle East. As the story begins, Josh has gotten into some trouble with drugs and has had to spend a night in jail. Lori is hoping and praying for his safe return home. She settles into bed, praying and crying out to God for both her husband and son.

Soon she hears a door open. She believes Josh has come home. It turns out to be her husband David. Lori is thrilled he has returned and thankful they can face the challenges with their son together. After a happy greeting, she takes him to the kitchen to make him a meal and explain about their son.

Shortly after that, Josh returns and is overjoyed to see his father. He admits he was wrong and agrees to get help for his problem. The family is reunited with a sense of hope for the future.

Every story in this little book is encouraging and well-written. I loved the variety of characters. There is even a story about a little dog. This book would be a great one to read, and also would make a wonderful gift.

Patsy Ledbetter says she has many titles, but her favorite is being mom to her children and grandchildren. Her two daughters, two sons, one son-in-law, one daughter-in-law and two granddaughters are her joy. A teacher with forty years experience Patsy has taught children of all ages and also special needs children and adults. She writes occasionally for a local newspaper and performs in church theater productions on a regular basis. Her husband is the church choir and orchestra director. They have been married for more than 35 years. She says, “It is my desire to bring honor and glory to my Lord Jesus in every area where He has allowed me to minister.”

 

 

Listening to God, an Interview with Novelist Camy Tang by Donna Fujimoto

Donna: What first inspired you to write?

Camy: I’ve always loved reading, and my parents really encouraged me in my reading because both of them read a lot–my mom likes contemporary romance, women’s fiction, and suspense, and my dad likes science fiction and urban fantasy. One day, after reading a fantasy novel, I suddenly felt a burning desire to write my own fantasy book and I started work on it. I haven’t stopped creating stories in my head since.

Donna: How many novels have you written and in what genres?

Camy: I’ve written 27 novels in contemporary romance, romantic suspense, cozy mystery, and Regency romance.

Donna: What do you draw on to create such realistic settings and characters?

Camy: Honestly, I think God gives me my story ideas. He definitely has His own opinion about what issues He wants me to write about.

Sometimes He speaks by an idea that forms in my head, other times He speaks through friends who mention things to me. Sometimes I feel like He wants me to write from my own experience, sometimes I feel like He’s asking me to write about someone else’s experience.

I also try to keep things in prayer as I’m in the formulating-my-characters-and-storyline phase, so that He has His finger in everything.

Donna: Sushi for One? is the first in a series of books. How do the stories interconnect?

Camy: My Sushi Series is humorous contemporary romance about four cousins, and each book is about the love story of one of the cousins. Here’s the series blurb:

Four cousins commiserate about their single status—Lex the Jock, Trish the Flirt, Venus the Cactus, and Jennifer the Oddball. The only Christians in their large extended family, they vow to fight the stigma of the infamous family title, Oldest Single Female Cousin. But they have very different ideas about not acting as desperate as they feel about their bleak love lives. Who knew God would have His own plans of true love for each of them?

Donna: What do you hope readers will take away after enjoying one of your books?

Camy: That no matter where you are, who you are, and where you’ve been, Jesus loves you deeply and is with you. You are not alone.

Donna: What plans do you have for the future of your writing career?

Camy: Right now, I’m working on two projects–the second book in my Lady Wynwood series (Regency romance, published under the pen name Camille Elliot) and also a new humorous contemporary romance series set in Hawaii. I’m also working to get my books translated into Japanese. Then the missionaries in Japan who are supported by my church can give them away to nonbelievers. There is hardly any Christian fiction in Japanese, and I’d like God to use my books to introduce Japanese women to Christ.

Thanks!

Donna: Thank you, Camy.

Donna Fujimoto’s children love to read. She is a graduate of Alliance Theological Seminary. Her collection of short stories, 9 Slightly Strange Stories with an Uplifting Edge  is available as an e-book at Amazon.