Sunday, January 17, 2010

Great News For Me!

Friday, I discovered that my book, No Place for a Lady was voted as one of the Best of 2009 books for Crossings Book Club! The Jewel of His Heart was listed as one of the Best of 2009 on Christian Book Distributors and has only been out since October. Needless to say that's a wonderful thing for me and I was excited to see some of my writer friends on the list as well. Tracie Peterson and Tamera Alexander are both favorite authors of mine and I've met them both. Having Tamera endorse The Jewel of His Heart was truly a shining moment for me.

But I also have to thank my readers who have purchased and enjoyed reading my two books. I receive letters and emails stating they can't wait for A Love of Her Own to be released. I have friends and people at church tell me the same thing. You can't possibly know how encouraged I am by that, especially as I write a new novel for another series. I'm always wanting to keep getting better! :)

I wanted to let those of you who read my blog and live in the Marietta area know that a friend of mine, Eva Marie Everson, will be book signing at Sweet Spirit Christian Bookstore between 2-5. Eva grew up in South Georgia but lives in Florida now. She has written a slew of books and her newest release by Revell is Things Left Unspoken. I have a copy of her book, Reflections of God's Holy Land and you can bet I'll be taking it to have her autograph it for me. Later, she will be speaking at North Metro Church on Barrett Pkwy at 6 pm.

Her website is below if you'd like to read about Eva and all her books. When I led a critique group for six years, Eva quoted me in her book, Word Weavers, a book on sucessful critique groups, co-authored with Janice Elsheimer. http://www.evamarieeverson.com/
Until later, Maggie

Thursday, January 14, 2010

MY Thoughts For Today

I received permission to post this from Right From The Heart, my pastor, Bryant Wright's radio ministry, back in December, but with Christmas and finishing galleys, I didn't get around to posting it. I used to work for Right From The Heart, and was a prayer minister for two of it's fundraisers and considered it a great priviledge to be able to do so. One of my heart's passion besides writing, is that others may come to know Christ--not for me to feel good--but because God loves each one of us and wants us to know Him. In view of the terrible tragedy in Haiti, today seem to be the right time to post it. It appears to be so hopeless a situation, but I know with God all things are possible. Pray for them and send a donation to the Red Cross.

There are people I love who have not put their hope and faith is Christ, but will easily trust and rely on the unthinkable. Here's Bryant message that I wanted to share and by the way he is currently writing a book on the history of the conflict in the Middle East. Once I know when it will be released, I'll let you know.


The Evidence of Things Not Seen Dec 11 2009
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." - Hebrews 11:1
We pride ourselves in being logical creatures who demand proof before believing most things. Yet, a professor can tell us that there 100 trillion stars in the sky, and we accept it without question. We accept as absolute fact that an atom has neutrons and electrons spinning around a nucleus, even though we have never seen any of them. We know that light travels 186,000 miles a second even though we've personally never measured it. And we agree that Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address, and that E does, in fact, equal mc2. We accept all these things as facts without ever demanding the proof of their authenticity.Yet so many of us will reject Jesus - risking our eternal souls even when presented with solid proof. What proof? The witness of thousands of people who saw the miracles of Jesus. Testimonies from dozens who witnessed His death, then saw Him alive after His resurrection. And what about the fulfillment of prophecies concerning Jesus? Yet even after being shown so much solid evidence, many enlightened, logical people reject Jesus as "just some myth for the gullible." In fact, the divinity of Jesus is just about the only thing people refuse to accept, even when evidence is overwhelming. Tell me, where’s the logic in that?What about you? Are you willing to accept the truth of Jesus on faith? In fact, it's the ONLY way you can accept Him. So, go ahead, take that leap of faith. Once you do, your life will be changed forever.

Here's the link to Right From the Heart and the devotional & sermons.
www.rfth.org.

Maggie

Sunday, January 10, 2010

ENJOYING THE WEST & WILDLIFE

I have a new blog post up on Bustles and Spurs today and a few photos from my recent trip out West. This was at the end of September on a research trip for my new series, The Blue Willow Brides.

I bought a suitcase full of books to bring home to read about Wyoming and history in general of settlers in the West. The mountains in Jackson, WY are so incredible that pictures don't do just to their beauty or size. I posted some pictures on the blog. Check it out at your leisure.
http://www.bustlesandspurs.com/

Until next time...

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

MY COVER WON!

I was happy to find out that my cover won for Reader's Choice for favorite book cover for 2009. This cover is my favorite of my three, and the title has a deeper meaning to me. Luckily, the publisher let me keep this title.

All the covers were so pretty, and it was a close vote. I don't know about you, but a great cover compells me to pick up the book when I'm in the bookstore. Revell does such a beautiful job on their covers. I appreciate Carmen for taking the time to promote some her favorite books and allow readers to submit their favorite cover. Check it out:
http://continuousdelights.blogspot.com/2010/01/cover-contest-winner.html

Hope your New Year is off to a good start. This is always a chance to clean out, start over and review what you didn't accomplish in 2009. But be encouraged. Most of us never keep those committments to watch our diet, exercise and give our time back to our community or church. But it's never to late to start again with renewed energy and purpose and make every day count.

I know I'm going to give it my best shot.

Until I return, thank God for your friends, family and another new year to get it right.