I’ve been a bit down lately, so I wanted to pop in here and say hello. I injured my knee in a major way last Saturday and have never been in such pain. You can read about it here in my new women’s health blog, which I’m writing for b5 media. It was definitely not penciled in my calendar to be hauled away in an ambulance FROM THE PLAYGROUND.

The total irony of course is that my wellness blog is called Lively Women, and yet I haven’t been lively at all — hobbling around on crutches. I was proud of myself for getting bold enough to post my weight-loss goals online, and I was dreaming of moving forward and joining The Amazing Shrinking Mom Club. Yet that’ll have to wait.

Instead, I’ve been banished from the fitness scene and have replaced my jaunts to Curves with our local Physical Therapy Club, a happenin’ social network that is most definitely a sign of aging. Are there any of you out there who are also getting one-on-one therapy for your aches and pains? I must admit, it’s nice to have someone ask about how I’m feeling — even though it’s my left knee that’s the subject of interest.

One bright spot of the past week was finding out someone nominated me for a few of the Blogs of Beauty Awards over at A Gracious Home. Thank you, whoever you are — I’d love to meet you for a mocha too! Voting for the top finalists in these awards goes until Monday, July 17th at 8 pm.

If you have any health tips that can encourage us all to be more Lively Women (as the ladies appear in the above picture), please email me at heatheri@b5media.com. And if you often blog about wellness, I’d love to add you to my b5 media blogroll. Maybe I’ll be able to return to my regularly scheduled fitness program soon. For now, my leg is propped, my knee is weak, and I’ll be reading Dr. Seuss again before I sleep.

The new July issue of Christian Women Online magazine is out. Click here to read it.

You can enter to win a free copy of Allison Bottke’s A Stitch in Time, which I’m in the middle of reading now — it’s absolutely adorable. And there are regular columns by Darlene Schacht, Shannon Woodward, Bonnie Hooley, Valerie Wolff, Victoria Gaines, Bonnie Bruno, Kim Brenneman, Ann Voskamp, and moi. You can also read a new chapter from Catherine West’s novel, Just a Little Walk, and be further inspired by guest columnist, Polly Boyette, author of Life is a Buffet, So Save Room for Dessert .

If you haven’t joined the CWO blogring yet, what are you waiting for? There’s also a new CWO Blog, which includes daily posts from six of our favorite bloggers: Darlene, Iris, Paula, Joy, Antique Mommy, and Tracey.

Here’s how editor Darlene Schacht introduced my new Book Buzz column:

Heather Ivester has picked some of the best books this month we’re sure you’ll want to get your hands on for summer.

Whether you want to get whisked away to the Isle of Arran, enter the hilarious and hectic world of Beckie Miller, or brush up on your home-keeping skills, there’s a wonderful book waiting for you.

So sit back in your favorite chair, put up your feet and get lost in a book.

Read more…

Since my kids are out of school, this will be my last post here for a few weeks. I’ve also been praying about whether this is what God wants me to continue doing with my time. Here’s a story that will show you some things that have been on my mind lately.

I’ve written a few times about my experiences at the Glorieta Christian Writers’ Conference in New Mexico last fall. At this conference, everyone eats meals together in a cafeteria. My parents and two of my daughters came too, and sometimes I ate with them, but one morning I went to eat breakfast at a table with a sign that said “Children’s Writers.” So everyone at the table was either a children’s writer or interested in becoming a children’s writer (I’m still a dreamer).

I didn’t realize this was one of those “divine appointments” God arranged for me. I sat next to a girl named Michele, and as we talked, we kept saying “me too! me too!” We realized we had a thousand things in common. After breakfast, we walked around the lake together to reach the chapel for the morning worship and devotional. We had both signed up to meet with the same editors, and we went to the same workshops. I was overjoyed to meet someone I shared so much in common with.

We’ve bonded even more through months of email — and I recently opened up and told her I wasn’t sure what to do about my blog. “It’s all over the place.” I said. “I don’t want to waste people’s valuable time reading it — yet I don’t really know what God wants me to keep writing about.”

“What’s your passion?” she asked me. “What do you really care about?” I thought for a while, and I told her that I really enjoy sharing my faith, as well as helping women feel encouraged in their daily lives. That’s why I’ve interviewed people and reviewed books here — as well as participated in the online Bible study and the Carnival of Beauty.

Then the word “wellness” came to my mind. “I’m passionate about wellness,” I told her. Women’s wellness. Through that discussion, I remembered that the subtitle for my mother/daughter book was “Reflections on Living Well.”

Living Well. Living Well. Living Well. The phrase stayed in my head for a few days. Then I got an email from an editor of a blogging network who invited me to take over their “Women’s Wellness” blog. I prayed about it for several days, and the more I prayed, the more I felt this “yes” from the Holy Spirit. The opportunity seemed good, as well as the timing. (And it will be nice to make a little income from blogging!)

So I accepted the position. My new blog will focus on what unites us as women — women from all cultures, beliefs, and lifestyles. We all want to be healthy — and wellness to me implies a balance of living well physically, mentally, emotionally — and yes of course, spiritually. I’ll be posting on current news and happenings in the wellness field.

I don’t plan on abandoning my blog here — it will still be my “home base.” I’ll come back and let you know when I get my other blog going, and I plan on posting here again after my “summer vacation” is over in August. I’ll also let you know when the new edition of Christian Women Online comes out — I’ll be reviewing books in my “Book Buzz” column there more often than I review books here. I also plan on reviewing wellness-related books in my other blog.

I wish you all a safe and happy summer!

I’m sure most of you are aware that Sallie at Two Talent Living has renamed her blog to A Gracious Home.

If you haven’t been to visit her new site yet, please do! She has a gorgeous new look to her blog, as well as a new domain link. So if you’ve linked to Two Talent Living in your blogroll, you’ll want to change it to A Gracious Home.

Many of us enjoyed writing essays for The Carnival of Beauty, hosted by Sallie. I participated in it from December 2005 until April of this year — and that’s how I “met” most of my blogging friends! Sallie took a short break from the Carnival as she is expecting her first child and is busy.

Yesterday, she announced that she will continue to host the Carnival of Beauty for the rest of the year! Here is the link to the upcoming schedule, which will be held at the site of the week’s hostess.

From time to time, I feel a flicker of doubt, and I wonder if I’m wasting my time writing. Then someone will send me a note of encouragement and remind me that this is a ministry God has called me to do for this season of my life. While my children are young, I’m thankful to be able to write while they play or read beside me.

A couple of weeks ago, I was surprised to receive this very kind note from one of you. I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to send this to me!

Dear Heather,

Thank you for your obedience in sharing this info…..and thank you for the great site!!!

This note meant so much to me — because I felt like I’d really connected with a reader. And not only me — I’d connected her to this conference. So I wrote her back and asked if she went to the conference. Well, she told me that not only did she have a fantastic time at the conference, she fell in love with the church and knew this is where she wanted to be! So, she and her family joined this church, as an answer to many months of prayer.

Thank you, Lord, for this encouraging note. I know that you prompted her to write me to show how you’re working not only in my life, but in the lives of those who you deliberately lead here. How awesome you are, and how humbled I am to be a messenger of your mighty work!

I’m curious to see if any of you have any advice or opinions to offer about wireless internet connection. I’ve been giving it some more consideration lately. We’ve been on a waiting list for DSL for over a year now, but every time I inquire, I’m told “Sorry, you’re too far out.”

The cable company says we’re too far out as well. And I don’t trust satellite. When we had satellite TV several years ago, strange things happened whenever we had a storm or high wind — our TV would lose the signal. I wonder if that would happen on the computer as well.

My friend who also lives out in the country and now has wireless says it works great. Here’s my question: is it safe? Is it like a cell phone, where people can pick up your conversations on a baby moniter? Is there a way to scramble things? I’m really clueless about all this wireless stuff — but I’m also to the point where Dial-Up is making it impossible to download anything.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Editor Darlene Schacht of Christian Women Online has reprinted Ann Voskamp’s award-winning essay, A Shepherd’s Mother, incorporating gorgeous photos. Please go read it on the magazine’s site! What a lot of encouragement is going on out here in the blogosphere!

Thank you to a certain someone who sent me a letter from her mother, in response to her reading her daughter’s essay for this contest. I ruined another pair of contact lenses crying through that note — but it’s something I’ll always treasure. What a thrill to know I made somebody’s mom feel special because her daughter wrote a story that blessed her!

Other news: Holy Mama! has blessed MY socks off today with her post about my book. Wow — Thank you!

Here’s a must-read funny interview on Sally Apokedak’s All About Children’s Books site. She caught up with Dr. Jonathan Rogers, author of the Wilderking trilogy. Book 3, The Way of the Wilderking, was released last week, just in time for summer reading. If you want to know what a young boy reads to grow up and become a children’s novelist, go read this interview. (Just watch out for those screaming hairy armadillos.)

And me! I’ve been offered a position to become a professional blogger! I don’t know what to do and am giving this much prayer. It’s on a topic I feel quite passionate about — but do I feel passionate enough about it to write six posts per week? I must say, there’s something to be said for earning a little income doing something that I love.

Here’s a great quote I read this week, that I thought applied well to our Beth Moore study of Living Beyond Yourself:

“All the fruits of the Spirit which we are to lay weight upon as evidential of grace, are summed up in charity, or Christian love; because this is the sum of all grace. And the only way, therefore, in which any can know their good estate, is by discerning the exercises of this divine charity in their hearts; for without charity, let men have what gifts you please, they are nothing.”

I am behind this week on our study. Actually, I haven’t even downloaded the video or the homework yet. (YIKES!!) I’ve been so busy wrapping up the Mother’s Love writing contest that ended here on Monday. And I’ve been corresponding with my FOUR wonderful, unbiased judges who are helping me, as well as reading through nearly 40 fantastic essays and poems. I’ve laughed, cried, and have been a bundle of emotions all week.

There’s also a lot of stuff going on in LIFE right now that has cut into my computer time — in a major way! I’ve been running around town getting ready for a book signing at a local bookstore, attending my daughter’s second grade field trip, coordinating our family’s summer schedule, and preparing for a busy weekend.

I’M GOING TO MEET THE FLYLADY!!!!!

LBY Friends: Thank you for your prayers. I feel such support from you in the group! Hopefully, next week will allow me time to catch up and visit your blogs to see how God is working in your life. For now, I must Live Beyond the Blog and try to keep up with this insane pace of life around here.

Addie	Heather*	Carol
M	Rach	Jeana
Jenn	Amanda	MamaB
GiBee	Boomama	Maria
Blair	Heather	Nancy
Janna	Flipflop	Robin
Sherry	Patricia	Tara
Lauren	HolyMama!	Faith
Christy	Eph2810	Karin
Leann	Rachel	Janice

If you need a real dose of encouragement, the new May issue of Christian Women Online magazine is hot off the press. I can’t wait for you to see it because guess who is the new “Book Buzz” columnist? Me! I’ve found a fun place to buzz about the latest, greatest inspirational books for women.

There are plenty of cool things going on at CWO for bloggers — I hope you’ll join the party if you haven’t already. First of all, you can join the CWO Blogring and you’ll be linked to the site. Here’s what the purpose of the Blogring is:

The Christian Women Online blog ring was newly created to unite women of faith via the internet. Web users can use this unique list to easily find other women that share the same faith, without having to waste hours searching through secular blogs that may hold little or no interest to them.

This is a great way to stay connected to other like-minded bloggers. And once a month, CWO will feature a “Pick of the Month” blog, offering you the opportunity to introduce your blog to tons of new readers! This month’s feature is the beautiful My Prairie Rose blog, where “Carolyn shares her life as a 47 year-old Christian wife, mom and grandma who loves to read, scrapbook, and other crafty things.”

Besides the Blog of the Month, the May issue of CWO features a free book drawing and writing contest, as well as inspirational columns and articles on growing in your faith, scrapbooking, home organizing, eating healthy, homeschooling, parenting, new recipes, and more! I hope you’ll go check it out. Best of all, it’s free!

A couple of years ago, my husband and I took a 10th anniversary trip from sea to shining sea, flying to Santa Barbara, California. I was in a zany mood and wanted to pass the time on our flight, so I combed the bookstore for a novel that hollered, “Read me. I’m good, clean FUN.” I found it. The cover featured a skinny cartoon girl walking a tiny dog, and it was published by a new Christian publisher, Westbow Press. It leaped off the shelf at me, and I couldn’t even wait until our trip to start reading it.

The title? She’s Out of Control by Kristin Billerbeck. I loved it. I didn’t even notice the airline served us nothing but a mini bag of pretzels on our 3-hour flight. So, I’ve been hanging out lately at this totally hip blog for Christian novel fans, Girls Write Out. Have you visited yet?

If you haven’t, you’ve got to meet this Fab Foursome: along with Kristin Billerbeck, you can get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what it’s like to be a Christian fiction writer, from the keyboards of fellow bloggers, Denise Hunter, Diann Hunt, and Colleen Coble.

Well, Colleen’s got a great publicist because she somehow found me and asked if I’d like to interview Colleen.

Would I? She’s an award-winning Christian writer who is also a MOM. You bet! I know that at least one of you is an aspiring Christian chick-lit novelist, but I won’t say WHO. (Oh, excuse me, did I let that slip?)

Let’s welcome author Colleen Coble today to Mom 2 Mom Connection.

Thanks for visiting, Colleen. I notice on your website, you’re a “Romantic Suspense Author.” Can you tell us a little about your pathway to becoming a published novelist?

Thanks, Heather. I’d known I wanted to write from the time I wrote my first story in 1st grade. I can still remember that story. It was about a horse that had twin colts. The teacher praised it, and the seed was planted in my heart.

I planned for it all through school, but got married at 19 and had my first baby at 21. I got busy raising my kids. The seed was still there, but it lay dormant. It took the pressure of adversity to crack it open.

A few months shy of my 40th birthday, my younger brother Randy was killed by lightning. It was a wake-up call that if I was going to follow my dream, I should get on with it. None of us knows how long God has planned for us on this earth.

I’m sorry to hear about your brother. That does sound like a startling wake-up call. How long did it take you to write your first novel?

It took me a year to write and then six more years to sell it. My first book, a prairie romance, sold to Barbour. Seventeen more sales followed to them, but my dream was always to write suspense. People ask why I write about murder when I’m friendly and outgoing. I think it’s because I’ve seen bad things happen in my life, and I want justice to win. I can make sure that happens in my writing.

Wow. You must really get hooked into writing the plots if there’s a murder to be solved. What advice would you give to women who love reading novels and think they’d like to write one someday?

Don’t just think about it! Read extensively in the genre you’d like to write. Join an online organization like American Christian fiction Writers and network with other writers.

Read books on writing such as Stein on Writing by Sol Stein, Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass, and Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell. Attend writing conferences. All these steps will increase your chances of writing something publishable.

I heard James Scott Bell give the keynote address at the Glorieta Christian Writer’s Conference last year, and I’m also reviewing his latest novel now. Do you really think it’s helpful for aspiring writers to go to conferences?

It’s VITAL! I can’t recommend it enough. At a conference you can meet editors and agents face to face, and while you may not sell your book at the first one, you’ll begin to build the networks and relationships that will grow as you meet every year at the conference.

You’ll also find other writers you “click” with who will become lifelong friends to encourage and commiserate as you tackle the writing adventure. And a really great conference has workshops where you’ll learn more about writing than you ever dreamed possible.

Also, they’re just plain FUN! No one else understands the writing life like another writers. Not your family, your best friend or your mother. Only other writers know what it feels like to put your heart into a book only to have it come zinging back in your mailbox. Only another writer knows how it feels when you finally get “the call.” I met my wonderful agent at the conference at Mount Hermon, and we just clicked. She went back to the office and read my proposal for Without a Trace and bought it, and I know it wouldn’t have happened without that conference.

Oh, I can relate to that feeling of sending something out and having it rejected. No fun at all. And you’re right — nobody else understands but other writers! Do you recommend any conferences?

For Christian fiction, there’s no better conference than the ACFW one. Virtually every publishing house in CBA has a representative in attendance. And there’s plenty of time to pitch your book to the many who are there. The workshops are stellar, and this year our keynote is Liz Curtis Higgs, a wonderful writer and amazing speaker. She’s totally hilarious to listen to.

I also think Liz is hysterical. I read her columns in Today’s Christian Woman magazine, and I’m also reviewing her novel, Grace in Thine Eyes right now. Will you be at the ACFW conference in Dallas this September?

Yes! I’m actually teaching an early bird main morning session with Deb Raney.

I notice that your latest novel is called Alaska Twilight. Did you have to go to Alaska for research?

I’m an Alaska nut. I’ve read about it, dreamed about it, and watched every movie about it 40 times. Okay, maybe not quite that many, but a lot.

So when WestBow asked me to do a Women of Faith book, that was the first setting I thought of. I also had two writer friends from Alaska who read it for me to make sure I got it right.

How do you decide on where your novels should be set?

I generally start with setting when coming up with a new story. It needs to be some place that has a certain mystique for me. I like my setting to play a role in the story where you couldn’t take that story and set it anywhere else.

I know so little about Alaska, though I’d love to go someday. I read on your website that you had a contest for one of your readers to identify the Alaskan craft mentioned in Alaska Twilight. A hoofaboo! How interesting.

I had so much fun writing that book. You can read several reviews of it on my website.

Can you tell us more about that fun blog you participate in, Girls Write Out? I discovered it through being a reader of Kristin Billerbeck’s chick-lit. How did you get to know each other?

Kristin and I have been friends the longest. We were both writing for Heartsong Presents at the time and connected online. We first met at the Glorieta Christian Writers Conference. Her mother-in-law was appalled she was going to room with someone she’d never met!

But we clicked as much in person as we did on email. Diann and Denise both live about an hour from me, and we all started at Barbour. The three of us get together a lot and all four of us room together at the ACFW conference. It’s our yearly girls night out.

That sounds like WAY too much fun. How did you get started blogging?

The four of us knew we’d like to have a blog but we also knew we’d never have the time to maintain one on our own so we pooled our resources. And we wanted it to be for READERS not just writers.

We wanted it to be relevant to women no matter what their age or occupation. We blog about stuff our husbands do, the perplexities of life, all kinds of things.

Well, I’m certainly enjoying reading it. I have one more quick question. Do you have a mentor of any kind?

The four of us mentor one another. We’ve been iron sharpening iron. And my editors have really helped me grow as well. Stephen King is my favorite author. He can write characters like no one else. I bet I’ve read THE STAND thirty times.

Do you have any more advice for aspiring writers?

The writing life can be tough. Friends make it more about the journey and less about the arriving, so make finding some writing friends a top priority!

Thanks, Colleen! This has been such a wonderful chat. I hope at least one of us will be able to meet you and the other writers in your Fab Foursome in Dallas at the ACFW conference. Thanks for stopping in.

Thanks, Heather! These were great questions.

If y’all enjoyed this chat with Colleen Coble, be sure and stop by Girls Write Out or her website and say hello! There’s also another great interview with Colleen at the ACFW website, where I learned that she reads 4-5 books a week!