This is soooo exciting! I would be thrilled if you’d vote for me.
The cover for Legacy has been selected for the allauthor cover of the month competition. There are four rounds, and this is the first, it ends on the 8th. So I might be back again if I get to the next round.
Clicking on this link should take you to the voting page. I can’t tell from here if the link works!
If you aren’t with allauthor, it looks like you just log in with Facebook, making sure you are logged in there.
Ever since I began writing, I’ve felt it was in God’s will, and that it was a way to witness to people, especially when we were in Austria and I couldn’t promote in person due to the books being in the wrong language.
Once back home, I wrote Lamplight to Sunlight as it was a subject that fascinated me, and was a good way to get seen as a local author. In the past year, I’ve met some fabulous people, made great new friends. In the autumn I’ll be in a writers’ group and that had been a long held dream.
I’ve done Brecon show, and sales were disappointing. I’ve two book markets planned and an event at the local museum. I’m putting Lamplight to Sunlight out as a children’s book too. The books are still in a top 100 bestsellers. I’ve noticed that my Facebook group, Horse Books for Grown Ups has been very quiet this month.
Nothing, nothing had prepared me for my Amazon sales report this month. Zilch, not even enough for a large bar of chocolate. I’m not someone who looks frantically at my sales, but even so. Is it something to do with new category systems? I could go and throw money at marketing sites, but will I even make up for what they cost? I’ve got a load of stock paperbacks I must sell.
Is God now telling me its time to stop? We were gifted with some one off extra pension money, which will help for a while, but I won’t be contributing anything to the household income from my books. I can do some promos, I’ll certainly put the memoirs out in a cheaper or free edition. I’m a third of the way through a purely Christian novel, which I need to write out of my head onto paper.
If I don’t write, what do I do? I need the mental discipline of writing and creating books to stop me being more woolly headed that usual. Has God got something new for me? I won’t get a UK pension for another two and a half years. Back to work after Christmas maybe, I wouldn’t mind working in a shop.
God is good! We’ve been enjoying a week of wonderfully sunny weather and have made the most of it by heading up into the hills. The Mountain Ash valley does a bit of everything and we even went a bit further towards Maerdy, the other side of Aberdare. Swingle has had a ball, although there aren’t many streams around as it has been so dry, she’s found plenty of mud to bog snorkel in and cool down!
Hills, rocks, woods – lovely deciduous ones, there are so many hawthorn trees going nuts this year. Reservoirs, streams, old mine workings, very rocky paths, views of the beacons. Actually, I think this area is as good if not better!
A week off from church life too, but back with our kids club, with a seven week run until the summer holidays. We’ve been having up to 24 kids in and its been a fabulous chaos. Next week we have family visiting, then its re-building out pond which is leaking. The tadpoles are leaving as little black frogs. Funny, I never thought I’d hear myself saying we could do with a bit of rain!
It’s now the beginning of May and my world is changing. We had our first Deacon’s meeting, which went really well, it didn’t take too long and we settled some issues. We had two of the old Deacons there, and they were a great help, I expect they’ll get a real thank you in church soon.
Then I had to write the minutes and that was a whole new thing to do, I’m just sending them out, so I’ll see what the feedback is.
BUT CHURCH!
We’ve had one new family, with three children arrive, so we now have Sunday school. Another lady with her small daughter, and her parents, and we had an amazing time of testimony in the service. Well, I only heard so much as I was doing Sunday school. Friday club had FIFTEEN kids last week.
Old carnal mine was moaning away on Sunday morning about missing my spiritual tank filling with being downstairs, but each time we take the kids down, I’m filled with a joy that comes only from Holy Spirit. Each time I’m in church, I’m rocking!
This is what the Lord has brought me here for. I can see the parallels with our lives here and in Austria, maybe it was a preparation for this, or a shadowing of the future, but this time I can do it full gas, throttle open, totally committed. In my own language. At home.
This Easter has been a busy one, but at least the sun shone for the walk of witness through Mountain Ash. We had communion at the service afterwards and just before I had a poke in my back. ‘Marion says will you serve Communion as Chris isn’t here!’ I leapt out of my skin, but it was too late as Paul was already serving.
Afterwards, the muddle was sorted, but we had a big discussion about Easter Sunday,and how the new regime would like to change things.
So, I was trying not to be nervous during the service, but it did make it difficult to concentrate, especially during the sermon as I was working the church in my head to see what way round I should go. Paul was great and called me to the front, after praying gave me the bread bowl and I took it round, trying to be reverent and slow. Many people made eye contact and said thank you, only a couple said Amen. Same again with the metal carrier of the little cups. Each time then took it from me and gave to me before taking himself. It was beautiful and simple and many of the old ladies said I did it well, I hope they weren’t just being kind!
It was only afterwards, I realised, what a privilege, honour and joy it had been to serve. That made up for being distracted from the so important Easter service.
So where's the snow? 