Inky Accomplishments This Year!!!

Welcome to our week long third blogoversary party. We certainly have a lot to celebrate! If you missed the abundant food and wonderful waitstaff on Monday, you might want to check it out. Also, don't forget to leave a comment for our big giveaway this week. As part of our celebration, we're redecorating. Here's our new fiction look.

When the ladies of Inkwell Inspirations started on this journey three years ago, only one of our Inkies who still remains with us, Jen AlLee, was published, and only a small handful of us had agents. Our main goals were to find a voice in the blogosphere, to support one another in our writing endeavors, and to spur each other toward publication. And how far we've come!!! Here are a list of our accomplishments this year.

Anita Mae Draper landed her first agent. Yay, Anita! Mary Keeley of Books & Such, which qualifies Anita to be called a Bookie. This is in addition to her many contest finals over the years.

After seeing her first novella, Gold, Frankincense, and Murder published in December 2011, Barbara Early began working as an editor for Pelican Book Group (White Rose, Harbourlight, Watershed). In May she signed with literary agent Kim Lionetti of BookEnds Literary. Negotiations for a cozy mystery series are in the works--expect an announcement very soon.

CJ Chase received a contract for her second Love Inspired Historical Novel, The Reluctant Earl, to release in February 5th 2013.

A new three books series of English cozy mysteries is in the works for DeAnna Julie Dodson under the pen name Julianna Deering. Look for The Drew Farthering Mysteries coming from Bethany beginning summer 2013. Her Annie's Attic novels, The Diary in the Attic and The Legacy in the Attic, are also due out in spring and summer 2013.

Debra E. Marvin ranked second place (she's quite comfortable there) in the 2012 Daphne contest. Way to go, Deb!

Dina Sleiman's sophomore novel, Love in Three-Quarter Time, will be the launch title for the new Zondervan First Imprint. Releasing October 23rd! She also received runner up in the first novel category of the 2012 Selah Awards for Dance of the Dandelion.

We all had the pleasure of enjoying Gina Wellborn's first published offering when her novella, "Sugarplum Hearts," a part of Barbour's Highland Crossings, released in February of this year. Her "All Ye Faithful" will be available as part of A Cascades Christmas, this month, and she has more contracted novellas on the horizon.

Jennifer AlLee's awesome women's fiction The Mother Road came out in April with Abingdon, and A Wild Goose Chase Christmas will be available on November 1st. She's very excited to be working on her first historical series with her buddy, the amazing Lisa Richardson.

Lisa Karon Richardson's debut novella will release October 1st through Barbour. Look for "Impressed by Love" in Colonial Courtships. Her first novel, The Magistrate's Folly, also with Barbour will come out in January. And another novella, "Midnight Clear" will be in the Mistletoe Memories anthology coming September 1, 2013. Lisa's also co-authoring the Amazing Love series with Jen AlLee. The first in the series, Eureka! will also be coming in 2013.

For Niki Turner, this has been a journalistic sort of season. She's been working for local papers in Colorado and has turned out lots of published articles.

Susanne Dietze had a banner year. In addition to semi-finaling in the Genesis contest, finaling in the Gotcha, and winning the Pheonix Rattler, she also signed with agent Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

And last but most certainly not least, Susan Diane Johnson received her first contract. Her debut novel, No Substitute releases November 30th with Pelican Book Group.

Wow!!! Anyone else impressed. Keep up the good work, Inkies!!! Here's to another great year to come.
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To celebrate our Blog-o-versary,
we are giving away five prizes!

If you'd like to be in our drawing, please tell us in your comment and leave your email address (safely - that means don't use your full address with the @ sign, but be sneaky about it).

Giveaways include:
1. Winner's choice of any one Inky Ebook available on Amazon for Kindle
2. Winner's choice of one of these three: Letters in the Attic, A Key in the Attic, or In Honor Bound by DeAnna Julie Dodson
3. A $10.00 Starbucks gift card to one winner
4. A $10.00 Amazon gift card to one winner.
5. A copy of Cascades Christmas, Gina Welborn's newest release

That's FIVE winners!

Winners' names will be drawn at random from those entering by comment. Winners will be "first drawn equals first choice" and will be contacted after names are drawn Sunday, September 9th 2012.

Please remember - you can't win if you don't leave your email address.
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Which of the Inky novels or novellas have you enjoyed? Which ones are you looking forward to reading?

Blog-o-versary History Day

by Anita Mae Draper

Another Blog-o-versary! Yeehaaaaaaaawwwwwwww!!!

Three years ago I was invited to join a group of women who wanted to blog about two things we had in common - our faith and our writing journey. After much prayer, I joined Inkwell Inspirations and I've been blessed every day since.

Three weeks after Inktropolis went live, many of the Inkies met at the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) conference at Denver 2009. That truly made the conference special since I hadn't met any of the Inkies prior to that point. All of our contact had been in a virtual world.

However, something else happened at the time which brings us back to today's post since it has to do with history. As Debra said yesterday, Tuesday will remain History days here at Inktropolis and Lisa has spent time designing a brand new blog header to introduce the day. Ready for the unveiling? Drum roll please...

And here's where the history part comes in... after Denver 2009 ended, I spent several days on a research trip while I meandered back to Saskatchewan. Several sights are still vivid in my memory, but nothing can equal the emotions I felt atop a windswept hill as I stood between the historic wheel ruts on the Oregon Trail. The experience triggered my creative side and before I reached home, the following poem had practically written itself. I originally posted it here on Sep 25, 2009, and now as we walk side-by-side into another year together, I want to take you back in time...

You Were By My Side

by Anita Mae Draper,  September 21st, 2009

based on the Oregon Trail Ruts, Guernsey, Wyoming

On a cold, windy September day

I climbed upon a hill

An aura of expectation filled me

yet time stood still

I usually don’t stray off the path

but this wasn’t a usual day

I couldn’t see from where I stood

so I walked the rest of the way

And peering over the weathered ledge

down where the wagons rolled

The trail was there for all to see

the pioneers of old

The limestone had been worn down

five feet deep in spots

From wagons loaded up with treasures

food and cooking pots

Just standing there wasn’t enough

I needed to feel it too

So I stepped down between the ruts

and you stepped down there, too

My eyes filled with tears that day

and like a babe I cried

But I was not alone up there

for you were by my side

Did you hear the grunt of straining men

who pulled upon the ropes?

Or pushed the wagons up the hill,

the incentive was their hopes?

Mothers and sisters trod along

making their own path

Wearing smooth the limestone rocks

and wishing for a bath

The laughter of children running about

as children often do

Not realizing history was being made

upon the hilltop, too

The wagon master cracks his whip

urges the team to go

No stopping ‘til the crest is reached

and then he hollers ‘Whoa!’

I hear it all like it was then,

I smell the sweat drift by

The harness brass is clinking,

a baby starts to cry

And as the sounds fade away

my tears begin to dry

The moment’s passed and I’m still here

atop the hill so high

So many years have passed since

the Oregon Trail was used

No hint of vandalism here

no proof it’s been abused

I thank the men in government

who let us wander here

Without the chains to cordon off

not even threat of deer

I wandered much upon that hill,

I even sat and sighed

But I wasn’t lonely there that day

for you were by my side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To celebrate our Blog-o-versary,
we are giving away five prizes!

 

If you'd like to be in our drawing, please tell us in your comment and leave your email address (safely - that means don't use your full address with the @ sign, but be sneaky about it).

Giveaways include:
1. Winner's choice of any one Inky Ebook available on Amazon for Kindle
2. Winner's choice of one of these three: Letters in the Attic, A Key in the Attic, or In Honor Bound by DeAnna Julie Dodson
3. A $10.00 Starbucks gift card to one winner
4. A $10.00 Amazon gift card to one winner.
5. A copy of Cascades Christmas, Gina Welborn's newest release

That's FIVE winners!

 

Winners' names will be drawn at random from those entering by comment. Winners will be "first drawn equals first choice" and will be contacted after names are drawn Sunday, September 9th 2012.

Please remember - you can't win if you don't leave your email address.

Greetings to the Inkwell Readers Across the World

by C.J. Chase

To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.

I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. (Romans 1:7-13 NIV)

When Paul wrote his letter to the church at Rome, he’d never been there. He was essentially writing to strangers. One of the fascinating aspects of email and Internet is that it facilitates communication among people who will never meet each other this side of eternity. And unlike Paul’s poor letters, our words can be read (and through the wonders of Youtube, spoken even) almost instantaneously all over the globe.

While writing this post, I peeked at the Inkwell stats, and what a surprise! We have visitors from four continents. I hope when we reach heaven, those of you reading this in China or India or Germany or elsewhere around the world will look me up. (I figure you'll have the advantage, having seen my name and picture.) I so want to hear your stories. Were you a missionary in a foreign land? A native of your country reading my words in that crazy English language? (My hat's off to you!)

Of course, we mustn’t forget Jesus’ admonition: From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded (Luke 12:48 NIV). With the gift of easy communication comes the responsibility to use our words wisely. Yet all too easily we spread discord rather than encouragement. 

Last week I wrote about being offended, but how often our words cause offense! Words once said cannot be unsaid—particularly in cyberspace where an unkind comment can live forever. How many times have I blurted out harsh or hurtful remarks without considering the consequences, without thought to the pain I cause another person? And how much worse when those words reside on some far-off server, ready to be discovered over and over again.

Here at Inkwell, we are gearing up to celebrate our third anniversary this week. We thank God for all of our readers and hope He has used our words to encourage you and make you stronger in your faith. 

After leaving the corporate world to stay home with her children, C.J. Chase quickly learned she did not possess the housekeeping gene. She decided writing might provide the perfect excuse for letting the dust bunnies accumulate under the furniture. Her procrastination, er, hard work paid off in 2010 when she won the Golden Heart for Best Inspirational Manuscript and sold the novel to Love Inspired Historicals. Her next book, The Reluctant Earl, will be available  February 5, 2013. You can visit C.J.'s cyber-home (where the floors are always clean) at  www.cjchasebooks.com

Inkwell Inspirations Upcoming Releases

SEPTEMBER 1

"All Ye Faithful" in A Cascades Christmas by Gina Welborn
Published by Barbour

Head to the majestic Northwest where logging history comes to life in four Christmas romances. Insecurity brings a logger and a young woman together, but will a “perfect” sister tear them apart? Will the dangers of the woods derail a young couple’s hopes and their chance at love? Amid town gossip, can a work-focused sawmiller win the heart of a prim-and-proper heiress? Will second thoughts have a sentimental girl and a hardhearted carpenter losing love? Find the answers in this heartwarming holiday collection.

Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble

OCTOBER 1

"Impressed by Love" in Colonial Courtships by Lisa Richardson
Published by Barbour

Impressed by Love (1762): Following her parents’ deaths, Phoebe Carlisle is traveling with her uncle, captain of the H.M.S. Aries, to live with cousins. An attack by a French ship-of-the-line forces them to seek refuge along the Connecticut River. Doctor Alden Ingersoll prefers to be in control of any situation, but his fate is ripped from his grasp when he’s pressed into the Royal Navy to tend Phoebe's injured uncle. In Phoebe’s company, Alden finds his desire to escape the ship fading. But pursuing her means abandoning hope of returning to his medical practice and his family.

 

Buy now at Amazon,  Barnes and Noble.

 

OCTOBER 23

Love in Three-Quarter Time by Dina Sleiman
Published by Zondervan First

 In the style of Deeanne Gist, Dina Sleiman explores the world of 1817 Virginia in her novel Love in Three-Quarter Time. When the belle of the ball falls into genteel poverty, the fiery Constance Cavendish must teach the dances she once loved in order to help her family survive. The opportunity of a lifetime might await her in the frontier town of Charlottesville, but the position will require her to instruct the sisters of the plantation owner who jilted her when she needed him most. As Robert Montgomery and Constance make discoveries about one another, will their renewed faith in God help them to face their past and the guilt that threatens to destroy them in time to waltz to a fresh start?


NOVEMBER 1

Wild Goose Christmas by Jennifer AlLee
Published by Abingdon

Upon her grandmother's death, Izzy Fontaine finds herself in possession of a Wild Goose Chase pattern quilt that supposedly leads to a great treasure. Of course, once the rest of the family finds out about the "treasure map," they're determined to have a go at the treasure themselves. And, if that weren't enough, Max Logan, a local museum curator, contacts Izzy and says that Grandma Isabella promised him the quilt. What is it about this quilt that makes everyone want it? Is Izzy on a wild goose chase of her own, or a journey that will lead her to the treasure her grandmother intended?

Available Amazon, Barnes and Noble

NOVEMBER 30
No Substitute by Susan Diane Johnson
Pelican Book Group

Amy Welsh knew when she came back to the small Washington town of Goose Bay she'd eventually run into her high school sweetheart—the one who broke her heart seventeen years ago. Only Quentin Macmillan isn’t the boy she remembered. He could potentially be everything she's ever dreamed of. But remembering the past reminds Amy that she and Quentin aren't a pair of teenagers in the bloom of first love. Letting him into her life resurfaces all the hurt she's tried to ignore. Forgiveness isn't as simple—or easy—as it sounds, especially after Quentin and Amy discover his teenage daughter has been manipulating their feelings. If Amy can open her heart to healing, she’ll find the future God prepared for her.