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

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

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...

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.

BOOK COVER CONTEST

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a prosperous New Year in 2010. Hard to believe we're almost there, huh?

I wanted to let you know that my book cover has been nominated for a cover contest on Carmen Boley's blog. You can cast your vote for the favorite covers listed. Just got to Carmen's blog and on the right hand side- bar, click on your favorite cover then submit your vote. It's just that easy. Of course, I hope you'll choose mine, The Jewel of His Heart, which also happens to be at the top of the blog. There's only 6 more days left in the contest. Vote only one time please. Here's the link.

http://continuousdelights.blogspot.com/2009/12/cover-contest-time-to-vote.html

Until later...

TUESDAY DEC. 22ND BOOK SIGNING

This has already been a fast and furious month for me and I'll wager for you too. I'll be signing at the Border's Bookstore at the Avenues in E. Cobb tomorrow, Tuesday 12/22 from 1-3 pm. I hope if you happen to live in the area that you'll stop in and say hello. I'd love to meet you.

I'm hoping to write a blog post before Christmas, so hope you'll come on back.

Happy shopping for your last minute gifts and I hope you save time for baking your favorites Christmas cookies! This is a wonderful time of year, but especially for the children and since I have grandchildren, it's exciting to watch them at Christmas!

I'll be back soon.

I HAVE A WINNER

Congratulations to Virginia! Your name was drawn from the list of comments about thankfulness.

I want to thank all of you that left me comments. It was so interesting to read what you're grateful for at this time of year. I like asking this question at Thanksgiving because I think it makes us all pause and see what's important. With Christmas and the celebration of our Lord's birth's just weeks away, it may help set the tone of our Christmas season.

I hope you've all recovered from the huge bounty of the Thanksgiving meal. and are busy making your list and checking it twice! :) I'm decorating the house this week. Something that I love to do at Christmas since it's such a special time. Don't forget to take time for yourself and don't neglect your private devotionals.

Until next time

BEING THANKFUL WHEN YOU HAVE A ROCK

Last week on my normal outdoor walk, feeling pensive and sad that all the brilliant leaves were dropping, I finally wound up at the park. I spied an adorable, tow-headed toddler trying to lift a big rock to add to several others he’d stacked on the walking trail. He made me think of my own son when he was little, who was also tow-headed and determined. Though he knew the rock was heavy and too big to lift on his own, he continued to try, resisting the offer of help from his mom. I smiled at his mom, who rolled her eyes and shrugged and as I walked on, but I couldn’t help but think that how like that toddler we all are.

From time to time, we all have burdens that lay heavy like a heavy rock in our heart which becomes too much to bear and we don’t know which way to turn for help, if we do at all. I wonder if you have a rock in your heart that needs to be removed. Maybe something that you’re trying to take care of on your own? Isn’t that just human nature? We are all good at trying to run our lives on our own terms and we shun offers of help. We try to forge ahead headlong because we think we can handle it, and we don’t really want another person’s opinion. Or we really don’t want to discuss personal difficulites. But close friends can offer good advice, and then we can use it or just toss it aside. The problem with holding onto a rock is that it can be so damaging mentally and physically.

So what should do we do when we have a rock and the load is too heavy to bear? Scripture tells us to be thankful in all things in 1 Thess.5:18. Sometimes I find this very hard to take, not being able to see through the fog to any possible outcome. Especially when I have family that is hurting or very ill and I’m beside myself with concern. But then I’m not God so I can’t possibly see how everything works together to create a good result.
However, I know that we need to look to our Power Source—God in us—when a set of circumstances threatened to take hold of us with an all consuming fire. He says He will give us more strength when the burdens grow greater, and give us more grace when the labors increase. To added affliction, He adds His mercy to multiplied power and peace. I don’t know any of us that couldn’t use some of this grace and power. All we really have to do is talk to Him about it. He’s already at work behind the scenes. He is the rock through all circumstances that I cling to because He promises that He will never leave me or forsake me. Christ is referred to as the Rock in many places in scripture. These are just a few:

The Lord is my rock
An Everlasting rock
My rock and my fortress
My Rock and my Redeemer
The Rock of Israel
He is the Rock
The spiritual Rock
The Rock eternal

My latest book, The Jewel of His Heart, is a lot about forgiveness and being thankful in all things. I didn’t start out to write the book that way, but that's how it evolved, and I wrote as God led me. So in honor of Thanksgiving and how much we have to be grateful for, I’m giving away a copy of my latest book. All you need to do is post me a comment and tell what you are grateful for this Thanksgiving season. Please be brief and to the point. I hope this will get you to really ponder the gifts that God has given you and many that you’ve taken for granted. I know I have.

I’ll start us off by giving what I’m thankful for and there’s too many to list, but here’s one of mine—that God in my life is forever faithful and His love endures forever. After all we are really the jewel of His heart.

Now post me a comment and leave your email by giving me your name, using (dot) at (your email addy). After Thanksgiving, I’ll have someone in my family draw the name and I’ll send you a personally signed copy of The Jewel of His Heart by mail.

Have a grateful Thanksgiving…

Book Giveaway

Want a chance to win a copy of The Jewel of His Heart? Hop on over to Carmen's blog, Continuous Delights. http://continuousdelights.blogspot.com/2009/11/maggie-brendan-interview-giveaway.html.

This was a fun interview and it will run from Nov. 20th-26th when Carmen will randomly draw a winner. DO not leave you link on my blog to enter, instead go to the link and follow the rules. Good luck!

Next week, I'll be blogging about giving thanks and you'll have another chance to win in case you didn't on Carmen's blog.

Thanks for participating and Happy Trails...

I had a wonderful time at Sweet Spirit bookstore this Saturday. The weather cooperated, bringing a fabulously beautiful day. Here's a picture of me with Marilyn Hood, owner of the store and Caitlyn one of the store clerks. Notice that Marilyn printed out the cover of my book coming out in June to place on the table as well.

Marilyn has read both of my books and I got ticked when she greeted her customers, eager to tell them how much she enjoyed
reading them.

Sweet Spirit has been a favorite bookstore of mine for many years. If they don't have what you're looking for, they'll happily order it. But besides all the great books, they have beautiful gifts for every occasions.

It's always great to meet new readers and enjoy being in the company of Sweet Spirit--they truly do have a sweet spirit! Thanks, Marilyn and Frank for hosting me.

Book Signing Saturday-Nov.14th

Once again I'll be signing at Sweet Spirit bookstore in Marietta, GA this Saturday. Frank Hood is the owner there and is such a gracious host. I always enjoy a trip to his store. His staff is eager to help and I find exactly what I'm looking for. Right now they have some incredible Thanksgiving items on display. I'll have to check those out!
Of course, they have books, cards and Bibles. They are located in Marietta, GA on Johnson Ferry Road.

So if you're in the area, I hope you'll stop by for a copy of my new book. I'd love to meet you and chat.

Until later...