Awkward

 

Recently my editor asked for photos of me with my books showing how excited and pleased I was [am] with the finished product. She suggested a number of ideas that could work but the idea was that they did not look staged.

There were two problems. Unstaged I cannot do as I am extremely embarrassed in front of a camera. I blame my maternal grandmother for this as she would always hide her face whenever a camera came out. She passed away over thirty years ago and I have very few photos of her facing the camera. I don't understand as she was a wonderful person, always dressed beautifully and looked younger than her age.

The other problem was that the books arrived several months ago. That is, the second book in the series arrived sometime back in February or March. The first book is much older than that.

It took two different attempts (if you look closely you'll notice that the footwear and the jewellery differ - the necklace was deliberate but the other wasn't) but eventually we found some that weren't super cringe-worthy. They're bad ... but [perhaps] not that bad.

My grandmother taught me a lesson by avoiding the camera. I am trying to learn to allow myself to be photographed even when I feel that I don't look my best ... even when I think I look old in photos ... even when my weight is not where I want it to be ... because I hope that one day my grandchildren will remember me with as much love and fondness as I do my grandmother, and I don't want them only to have a collection of photos where I'm hiding my face.

However, if this is the best that they end up with, they might prefer to keep them hidden from view!

By the way, apparently my older granddaughters enjoyed my latest books but think it's weird that Nana writes romance. Awkward.

Book#2 Now Available as Free eBook

Book#2 in A Day For You series, From This Day Hence, is now available for free as an eBook on Amazon. If you loved the first one, don't miss out on grabbing this one, too. If you missed the first one, then you can pick up both for the price of one. But this offer is only available for the next five days, so hurry.

Book #1 Available For Free For A Limited Time Only

When This Day Comes is now available for free download as an eBook. Go here to grab your first copy. It's only available until June 5, so hurry.

For those who are waiting for the second book in A Day For You series, it will be available next week. 

Please share the link with family and friends. If anyone would love to leave a review, I'd really appreciate it. But there is no obligation. I simply want readers who enjoy my books to have access to them and, hopefully, to spread the word.

Free Offers

Over the next two weeks I will be offering the two eBooks in A Day For You series as free downloads on Amazon. Download one or both - entirely up to you. If you missed the first one, now is your chance to grab it and start reading this new faith-filled series.

When This Day Comes (Book #1) will be available June 1 to June 5, and From This Day Hence  (Book #2) will be available June 8 to June 12. Both will become free to download at midnight, Pacific Time in the US (PDT). For those in New Zealand and Australia the books will be available at approximately 7:00 pm New Zealand time on those dates. All other areas, check your time zone against PDT.

I will share the links closer to the time. Please feel free to share this post and the links with as many of your friends, family, and contacts as possible.

From This Day Hence

From This Day Hence is now available from my website. As a result of increased shipping costs, I am only offering shipping to New Zealand and Australia. However, if anyone would like a quote for shipping for print books to other parts of the world, I am happy to arrange this at no obligation.

All of my books are offered as eBooks on Amazon. Look out for some offers on eBooks coming up next month!

New Release

I'm excited to announce that my latest book, and the second in the A Day For You trilogy, has now been released. From This Day Hence is available now as an eBook on Amazon or shortly as print through my website.

Wanting to pre-order? Drop me a line here.

As with When This Day Comes, I had the privilege of working with the wonderful Briar from Briar's Books. I just love how she brought my vision to life in the cover design and the wonderful flourishes she added throughout the book that make turning each page a joy. Her editing and feedback did not go astray either.

Earlier this year, DH were able to meet Briar and her husband in person. Both are accomplished storytellers with a very strong faith and our time together was absolutely delightful. I can't wait to work with Briar again. 

Emily's heart had been broken by betrayal. Now her sister's nephew threatens to topple the walls she had built to protect herself ... could he hold the key to learning to trust again? 

When Samuel's sister and family decide to immigrate to Australia, no one could foresee the consequences of their decision. Not only would it turn their world upside down, but in a distant land it would affect Samuel, Katie, Lily, and, most of all, Emily. As the latter struggles with her brokenness and hurt, and that of the children entrusted to her care, will she be able to learn to forget the past and step into the blessings her Heavenly Father has in store?

Forsaken

 

 "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Psalm 22:1

We here behold the Saviour in the depth of His sorrows. No other place so well shows the griefs of Christ as Calvary, and no other moment at Calvary is so full of agony as that in which His cry rends the air - "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" At this moment physical weakness was united with acute mental torture from the shame and ignominy through which He had to pass; and to make His grief culminate with emphasis, He suffered spiritual agony surpassing all expression, resulting from the departure of His Father's presence.

This was the black midnight of His horror; then it was that He descended the abyss of suffering. No man can enter into the full meaning of these words. Some of us think at times that we could cry, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" There are seasons when the brightness of our Father's smile is eclipsed by clouds and darkness; but let us remember that God never does really forsake us. It is only a seeming forsaking with us, but in Christ's case it was a real forsaking. ... the real turning away of God's face from His Son, who shall calculate how deep the agony which it caused Him?

In our case, our cry is often dictated by unbelief: in His case, it was the utterance of a dreadful fact, for God had really turned away from Hin for a season. ... remember that He has not really forsaken thee ... but since even the thought that He has forsaken us gives us agony, what must the woe of the Saviour have been when He exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" 

(Taken from Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon, April 15th.)

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash