If you’re participating in National Novel Writing Month, how’s it coming? I’ve read on a few people’s blogs the up-and-down woes of pounding the keys day after day, trying to reach that magical 50k mark at the end of the month. I’m simply amazed at people who can write, then blog about what they’re writing and get feedback from readers. I can’t do that!

In fact, I was feeling guilty a couple of weeks ago that I’m not telling anyone what I’m working on. Why do I feel this need to keep it all a secret? There’s nothing new under the sun, of course. My story is simply a recycled theme, coupled with my own life experiences and imagination.

Then I started doing some research on children’s author, Katherine Paterson, and I came across her acceptance speech for the Scott O’Dell Award. She started her speech by saying, “As many of you may know, I do not talk about a book while I am working on it. Even my husband is left in the dark until I present him with the messy first draft.”

Ah, relief! It’s OK not to talk about a work in process. It gives me freedom to create while my piece is still in the quiet darkness of my mind and heart. I’ve already changed some character’s names — and I’m sadly thinking about letting one of my characters go. It’s painful, but I think he might be better off in another story.

The more I’ve gotten into writing, the more I’ve realized my need to study how the masters do it. I thought it would come naturally from all the reading I’ve done, but there’s a craft to novel writing — and I don’t have it yet!

I read through Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method, and I’ve worked on several of his steps with my plot and characters. He forced me to think about the design of my whole story, instead of letting my characters plod along and do as they pleased. And I’ve come to a horrible realization about my main character.

She’s too nice.

At least she’s too nice in the beginning. In fact, as I’ve plotted my book’s design using the Snowflake Method, I’m realizing that the problem with my book right now is that there’s not a major problem at all. I’ve just got some nice characters meeting each other, getting involved in a few humorous situations, helping each other, and then we tie things up nicely.

Nice does not a novel make.

I realize now I’ve got to go back and rewrite my first chapter and make my character not so nice. She’s got to have some flaws, some areas for growth — so that by the end of the novel, she’s changed a bit. And I’ve got to include more danger, more action, more antagonists. If everything is so nice and spiffy, then what will readers gain from reading the book? My readers don’t lead perfect, shiny lives — so they’re not going to care about characters who are polished up in the beginning.

It’s going to be hard. Since I’m the one writing the story, and I know how it’s going to end up, I don’t want to change the beginning and poke all these holes in my character. I love her, and I want readers to love her right away too. But she’s got to come to a “shocking realization” about herself (which appears in my one-sentence summary of the book).

So now I see how I must try to rewrite that opening chapter — actually much of the book will need to be rewritten. You see, my readers will be kids, and kids are smart. Especially kids who’d rather be reading a book than watching TV or playing boring video games.

As for my NaNoWriMo progress, I’ve decided to rename my file “The Process of Writing (Novel Title).” In this file, I’m tossing in everything I’ve worked on this month. My daily journal entries that go along with writing out scenes, my character’s autobiographies, my prayers (Lord, please help me write what you want me to write), a few emails from encouraging writerly friends, and bits of dialogue my own children say.

With all this, I’m up to 37,000 words. So I will hopefully keep going a few more days and reach the finish mark. But I’ll have to write by long-hand when we’re traveling to visit family this week because I don’t have a laptop. (sigh.)

Yet Robin Lee Hatcher says she writes her character autobiographies by long-hand, so maybe this will be good for me after all. I think you use a different part of your brain to write by hand as compared to typing.

Many times during this busy month of writing, I’ve felt God speak to me. I know it was Him because the experiences are so powerful, I’ve been overwhelmed to tears. For example, part of my story takes place in the 40s, and one day I was feeling frustrated that I needed so much more time to research.

Then I went to a meeting, and we had a guest speaker, a well-known writer in my hometown who writes a weekly newspaper column. (I’d met her once, when I bought a book she edited.) When she stood up to give her speech, she showed us all some newspapers from the 40s, with headlines screaming about important events that appear in my novel. She talked about what it was like for her. I hope no one in the meeting saw me scrunch down in my seat and wipe away tears.

Another time, I was thinking, This whole writing thing is such a waste of my time. I’m no good. I can’t possibly write a novel. There are several Japanese elements in my story, and I was thinking that there are tons of people who could write about this better than me. I was pushing my cart through Wal-Mart, blessedly alone, while I thought these things. Then I looked up, and I was standing in the Asian section of the store.

There were boxes, packages, and cans of my favorite foods that I remember eating in Japan! The Japanese words jumped out at me, and I could still read them. For example, Wal-Mart carries the “Sapporo Ichiban” brand of Ramen. I could hear the commercial in my head that I watched on TV hundreds of times when I lived there. Again, I was moved to tears, and even though the store was packed, there was no one but me on this aisle, so nobody saw me. Write, my child. Write what’s on your heart.

One day, I got an email from my husband, asking if I’d be interested in going to a particular writing conference next year. This was all his idea. We talked about it, and I decided to get up in the morning and use my NaNoWriMo word count goal to register for the conference. I also signed up for a one-day intensive writing workshop, where you read a part of your work out loud to an editor or agent.

A few days later, I got a package in the mail, confirming my registration. When I went back to the site to check something online, two words jumped out at me: SOLD OUT. The workshop I’m signed up for is now sold out. I couldn’t believe it. If it weren’t for my husband’s prodding, I wouldn’t have a spot. Again, I was overcome with tears!

So, as you see, I’ve become quite an emotional basket case this month! I have so little time to write, only in the wee morning hours, but as I go along my days, I’m listening to my children more closely than ever, jotting down their exact words on sticky notes, studying their actions … and moving … slowly … along … in my dream of writing a children’s novel.

In living this way, I’ve never felt such JOY of being a mom! It’s like my characters are alive in my own home!

And you? What are you dreaming about this week?

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. May God bless you with a wonderful celebration of His love!

November is National Adoption Month, so I want to highlight a family who has been blessed by adoption.

A few months ago, when I read R.K. (Randy) Mortenson’s baby announcement on Novel Journey, I knew I wanted to invite him here to share his family’s incredible story.

Randy is the author of the immensely popular Landon Snow fantasy adventure series of books, published by Barbour. The books have biblical themes and are wonderful stories for kids — and grown-ups!

After serving “eight great years” as a Navy chaplain based in Jacksonville, Florida, the Mortenson family recently moved across the U.S. where Randy now pastors a church in Mayville, North Dakota.

Hi Randy. Can you tell us about your adoption journey?

In late 2002, my wife Betsy and I had been married 9 years and were still childless. So far as we knew, we were capable of conceiving; it just hadn’t happened. We began to think about adopting, and we talked with a couple who had recently adopted a boy from Vietnam.

Betsy had actually been to Vietnam on buying trips twice as the director of a gift shop in Okinawa (where I was stationed with the Navy as a chaplain). She loved it, and we thought of looking into an international adoption there. However, agencies and doors were closing in Vietnam about that time, and just when we were wondering where else we might look, an opportunity from the States was brought to our attention.

A young teenage girl was pregnant, whom we knew through family connections, and was seeking a family to adopt the baby. The father, also a teenager, was from Mexico. Might we be interested?

That question: “How would you feel about adopting a Mexican baby?” came to us in an e-mail. Betsy had read it, printed it out, and brought it to me speechless with tears in her eyes. I read it and the world did one of those collapsing and then greatly expanding motions. The decision hardly seemed a decision. This baby seemed predestined to be our little girl.

Since the biological mother and father knew us and we knew them, it was an open adoption, meaning we did not go through an agency. We hired a lawyer to represent us and do all of the paperwork. We were living in Okinawa, and the baby was born in Minnesota, so there were some loops to jump through.

We found a qualified counselor in Okinawa to do our pre- and post home studies. One of the greatest things was — we got to both be present for the delivery. Oh … my … goodness. Easily the greatest moment in my life since my wedding day. And even cooler in a way, that my wife and I were sharing this moment of expanding our love and growing into a family. I even got to snip the umbilical cord!

That’s wonderful! It sounds like you had an ideal experience. Your daughter is so blessed to have you as her parents. Can you tell us about the special meaning of her name?

We named our baby girl Kyra (long “i” sound: “Ki-rah”) which sounds like the Greek word for “rejoice.” The day after she was born we took her home from the hospital. Actually, we took her to my mother’s house, until we could get her passport to fly to Okinawa.

Because of our unusual situation — being in the military overseas — we were able to have the adoption finalized by the judge (who happened to be a former Marine Corps officer who had served in Okinawa!) when Kyra was four days old. Incredible.

Kyra turned 3 in August and started preschool 3 times a week this fall. She loves it. She brings us so much joy!

You have another baby now, a son. Can you tell us about him?

This is another rather remarkable story!

It’s late 2005, and we’re living in Jacksonville, Florida. I’m stationed at Naval Station Mayport nearby. We know we’re leaving Florida in October 2006, when I would be separating from the Navy. Betsy and I still haven’t conceived. Our family of three is wonderful. But … we’d like Kyra to have a sibling. And we’d like to have another child for us, too. (smile.)

So we decide to start the paperwork at a local Christian agency called Bundle of Hope. At first we think another Hispanic-American baby would be nice, like Kyra.

But when the counselor came to do our home study in late January, I shared with him the visions I’d been having. Over the previous two months, whenever I was picturing another child in our family, I’d realize after the fact that I was seeing a little black boy. Every time.

Wow — this sounds amazing!

So I told him this, and he seemed thrilled. I also said, “We are totally open to whatever child God may have in mind for us. But … I keep seeing this little black boy.”

The home-study counselor shared this with the case counselor at the agency. Three days after the home study, on a Tuesday, we turned in our final piece of the application: our family picture profile. Then it was time to wait. And pray.

It was February now, and to be selected as adoptive parents and go through the process and finalize an adoption before October … well, this would take a miracle. It could be months — or longer — just to be selected by a birth mother. But all we could do was wait. And hope. And pray.

And so we did.

For one whole week.

The following Tuesday, one week after we had turned in our picture profile, the agency counselor called. An African-American woman who had been coming to the agency for counseling for a few months had come in that day saying she needed to find a family for this baby … now.

So the counselor took out our profile, which included pictures of us and described who we are as a family, our interests, jobs, Christian testimony, and some of our history. The counselor also told this woman about my vision. And the woman broke down in tears. “This is the family,” she said.

She didn’t even want to look at another profile, though the agency usually shows at least three. The woman knew she was pregnant with a boy. And she was due in eight weeks.

This time it wasn’t an e-mail, but I called Betsy on my cell phone on my way home from an evening meeting at the base chapel.

“Hurry home,” she said.

“Honey,” I said. “I’m on my way home. What’s wrong?”

“We’re going to have a baby boy … in eight weeks!”

The world shrank; the world expanded. My heart thudded. I gaped into the cell phone. And I tried to concentrate on driving. Eight weeks!

That didn’t give you much time to get ready!

Colby actually arrived six and a half weeks later. Born on a Sunday morning. I called another chaplain on the way to the hospital and he said he’d cover for me at the chapel service. Betsy and I had met the birth mother previously. In fact, Betsy had accompanied her on a few doctor’s visits, and Kyra and I went to one of the ultrasounds to see Colby early. And, lo and behold, once again, we were both present for our child’s birth. This time Betsy cut the umbilical cord! Wow.

How is your son doing these days?

Colby is 8 months old now, and he is so cute! I have never seen such kissable cheeks in my life. Man, he’s fun.

And the story doesn’t end there. Let me backtrack for a moment, first.

After we heard the good news about Colby and were preparing the nursery for him at home, we knelt by the empty crib and prayed. The emotions zing up in me now as I think and write about it again. I prayed how grateful I was that we hadn’t conceived, because Kyra and now Colby were meant to be our children. I was so content and so fully satisfied with the thought of the four of us. It had been God’s plan. No question in my mind.

And then Colby arrived and I thought, well, now we’re set. A boy and a girl and a family of four. Perfect.

Then on Colby’s two-month birthday, last May, I came home from an early morning prayer breakfast downtown. I was about to change into my uniform to go to a Marine’s retirement ceremony, when Betsy tells me to go look in the bathroom.

What? I’m thinking I don’t have time for this. But I go in and look. We were starting to get our house ready to sell so I thought she might have painted something. I don’t know. Seeing I’m not noticing anything, she finally comes in and points, unable to speak, to two plastic sticks resting across a box on the counter. Honestly, I still don’t know what I’m looking at here.

Then she picks one up and hands it to me and I stare at two red stripes near the end of the stick. Betsy leaves the room, her hand over her mouth. Time stands still. It speeds forward. It races back. It stops again. I feel like I’m spinning even though I’m standing completely motionless.

“Two stripes means you’re pregnant. Two stripes … pregnant.”

We hug and smile at each other like we’ve never smiled before. I get into my uniform and race to the car and pull out of the driveway, stopping to roll down my window and laugh out loud and wave to my wife and keep laughing, and crying, and laughing, and crying, all the way to the ceremony.

Congratulations, Randy and Betsy! This is wonderful news! When are you due?

Betsy’s due in late January 2007. It’s another boy!

Can you share with readers here how you feel about going through the adoption experience twice?

Words cannot begin to describe how positively we feel about adoption. Wow. Two books we looked at are The Adoption Resource Book by Lois Gilman and Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew.

Most of all, for those interested or curious about adoption, I’d recommend talking to someone who’s done it. Also, visit a local adoption agency and talk with a counselor there. There is a ton of stuff online, of course, but the best resources are people who know the experience and the process. The fears and frustrations. And the joy and love involved.

Betsy’s and my experiences were both pretty unusual, in that we didn’t have to wait long (it can take a very long time) and we met the birth mothers and got to be there with our new babies right from birth. I haven’t looked up the stats, but I do know that most couples seeking to adopt are white, while there are a lot more non-white babies who need families and homes. So, the wait to adopt an African-American or biracial baby is often much shorter. And your odds of finding a baby are much greater. And, simply because of the great need, the cost is often even less.

Our daughter is Mexican-American, our son is African-American, I’m Scandinavian (75% Norwegian and 25% Swedish), and my wife is mostly Scandinavian with a trace of Irish. When our next son comes along, we’ll have three distinctly beautiful children.

Can you guess what our favorite bedtime song is? Kyra already sings it by heart:

“Jesus loves the little children,
all the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
they are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

We’ve also made two additional verses (and are working on a third), which are specific to Kyra and Colby. And they’re just for them. Kyra loves to sing them all.

One Scripture I’ve come to appreciate and understand more fully is Ephesians 1:5-6: “(in love) he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will — to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”

Thank you so much for visiting here, Randy, and for sharing with us your marvelous journey of adopting your children — and your special news that your family will soon be adding another son in January. We’ll keep you and Betsy in our prayers in the exciting weeks ahead!

Randy Mortenson will be happy to answer questions individually by email, rkmortenson at polarcomm.com.

You can find out more about him at the Landon Snow website or the Barbour website. This month, you can also read a new short story involving the Landon Snow characters in the December issue of Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse magazine! Click here to read “Christmas Lights.”

[Edit: Thanks, Barbour, for linking to this interview under News, Press, and Reviews:“November is National Adoption Month and Barbour Publishing is proud to share the story of best-selling author R.K. Morteson’s family, who have been truly blessed by adoption.”]

Thanks to all of you who left comments about what you were doing 20 years ago. I’ve had so much fun reading through these — and I even traveled to Taiwan to read Amanda’s story. You should go, just to see her adorable picture.

Well, here’s an interesting coincidence. I opened my regular mailbox yesterday and found a card from a high school friend I’ve reconnected with via email. She sent me two pictures of us from the mid-80s, including one that showed my husband in the background!

I think. I might. get up the nerve. to post those pictures. Maybe over the weekend. I hate to waste all that good hairspray and hours of time I spent teasing my bangs to gigantic heights.

Anyway, I’ve done the very scientific method of writing down everyone’s name on a small piece of paper, putting them in a blue tupperware bowl, and asking my son to draw one out.

And the winner is … Elle of Fall on the Grace!

Congratulations! You’ve won a signed copy of Tricia Goyer’s new book, Generation NeXt Parenting. I’ll get in touch with you by email to get the book to you!

I’ve been so busy this week — I can’t believe I’ve agreed to host my daughter a nine-year-old birthday slumber party, and I’ve got tons of things to check off my list. The theme is “puppies,” and I’m desperately searching for a craft idea. I found party favors through Oriental Trading — but no luck with the puppy craft.

I’m thinking it would be perfect to find some kind of felt purse kit (shaped like a dog, of course) that we could sew very easily. That’s my first choice — if not that, then some kind of jewelry thingy with beads. We have a new Hobby Lobby in town, so I’ll head there this weekend.

And next week! We have a very special guest coming. I can’t wait for you to give him a warm welcome. Yes, I said him. Our first male visitor to Mom 2 Mom. Be nice, y’all. He’s brave. A pioneer preparing the way for those who dare to follow.

Does this picture crack you up? I absolutely LOVE this book cover. This was my life 20 years ago. I didn’t own a Trans Am, but there were dozens of them in the parking lot at my high school. And I DID attend a Duran Duran concert (and spent hours lip-sync’ing “Rio” in front of the mirror in my basement.)

Well, guess what? This book can be YOURS! I’m having a Book Give-away here — my first ever. I have an autographed copy of Tricia Goyer’s book, Generation NeXt Parenting, that I want to give away FREE to one of you! All you have to do is write something, even just your name, in the comments here, and I’ll hold a drawing on Friday, November 17th. I’ll email you for your address, then I’ll pop it in the snail mail to you.

I’d love to know what you were doing 20 years ago. Are you like me, one of the 41 million Gen-X’ers, born between the years of 1961 and 1981? This book is written for those of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s — and are now trying to raise the neXt generation.

What was I doing 20 years ago? Well, I was 17 years old, in my senior year of high school. I was slowly becoming aware that the world didn’t center around my suburban so-called life, and I felt off-and-on panicky that I wouldn’t be accepted into college, or if I did, that I would fail miserably.

Meanwhile, I spent my afternoons after school at cheerleading practice, and I worked every weekend as a receptionist for a time-share company. I also had a fantastic English teacher who introduced me to a book I’d never heard of, Wuthering Heights. After reading that book, I decided to major in English.

How about you? What were you doing 20 years ago, in 1986?

I picked up the late Julia Child’s new book at the library last week, My Life in France. From the first page of the introduction, I was swept away.

Co-authored by her grand-nephew, Alex Prud ‘homme, the book contains 79 photographs and letters written by Julia and her husband Paul to Alex’s grandfather. It’s a travelogue, a woman’s dreams of youth, a love story, a memoir.

In the introduction, Julia shares her advice for surviving a French dinner party: “Just speak very loudly and quickly, and state your position with utter conviction, as the French do, and you’ll have a marvelous time!”

Julia Child passed away peacefully in her sleep on August 13, 2004, two days before her ninety-second birthday. This book was released only a few months ago.

I checked out My Life in France, hoping my husband would have time to read it — he’s still fluent in French, and we dream of taking our children there someday.

I told him this morning, “What fascinates me about that book — why I simply MUST read it — is that Julia went to France in 1948, not knowing a word of French, yet something happened there. She had some kind of awakening. I want to know what happened! What got her started on her dreams?”

He laughed and said, “You love that topic, don’t you? You need to write a book about that.”

If you’re a foodie or you love French culture, here’s a book to add to your Christmas list. Bon appetit!

I have a friend who stays in great shape, yet she’s a busy work-at-home mom. Something clicked one day when I talked to her about her workout regimen — maybe this is how it feels when someone hears the Gospel and it finally makes sense.

She said she does three things to stay in shape:

1) She jogs three miles a day on her treadmill in 30 minutes.
2) She lines up nine 16-oz. bottles of water on her counter and drinks them throughout the day.
3) She keeps a food diary to record everything she eats if she ever needs to lose some weight.

I’ve made so many excuses about exercising — and mainly what it comes down to is that it’s VERY hard for me to get out of the house these days without kids. I can walk with a stroller outside, but I can’t run on a good, flat surface where I can maintain a steady pace and speed.

So I dusted off our treadmill and moved it near a window in the basement. I bought a cheap $10 headset, and I keep it tuned to our local Christian radio station, which plays Third Day, Nicole Nordeman, Steven Curtis Chapman, all these fun songs. I’m having a praise concert every time I get on that thing.

I can run first thing in the morning before the kids are up or at night after they’ve gone to bed. It doesn’t matter if it’s cold or dark outside — on my treadmill, I can run.

I got on last night after kissing owies, reading bedtime stories, drying and braiding little girls’ hair, then it was MY time to run. I plugged in my treadmill key, turned on the radio, and heard a well-known pastor give a sermon on his series, “Breaking Free from the Habits that Bind You.” HA! Was that a coincidence or what? I ran for 36 minutes and didn’t even realize it; his message completely captivated me.

I’ve never been a treadmill fan because of the extreme BOREDOM that sets in — but not since that day when it all clicked for me. Three miles a day. Three miles a day. If I want to find out where God is leading me next, I need to keep up this pace. Three miles a day.

If I run when it’s light outside, I look out the window for a while and see our pretty green pasture, mottled with red Georgia dirt — and then after about eight minutes, I’m bored enough to need my mind to transport me somewhere else. I’m not running on a treadmill in my basement; I’m … Mary running through the hills of southern France. Or Mary running through the suburbs of northern California. Or I’m jogging along the snow-white sandy beaches of Florida.

Today I discovered it takes exactly 12 minutes before my mind is clear. Those few minutes of running along my imaginary beach clear my mind so I can start thinking about what’s really important to me, what I want out of life, what my dreams are, what I need to be focusing on. After 13 minutes, I’m praying, God, show me what to do. Show me how to serve you. What do I need to be doing with my days?

One of my favorite verses is I Peter 4:7, which says, “Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” It takes a mile on a treadmill before my mind is decluttered enough to pray! When I was running the other night, I thought for a minute of all the million things I needed to be doing besides exercising. Then I heard God’s voice say to me, “You’re on the right track.” OK, Lord. I’ll keep running.

While I’m on the subject of staying focused, I recently read a book that helped make a few more things in my life crystal clear. I don’t want to review it because I read it for my own pure pleasure, but let me just tell you, if you’re in desperate need of a spiritual jump-start, get a copy of Joyce Meyer’s The Confident Woman.

This is a powerful book, so far above all the self-help JUNK that lines bookstore shelves. Joyce Meyer bases everything on Truth from scripture, and she doesn’t hold back sharing with you the pain she went through to get there. I don’t care what the critics say, her testimony is awesome. Our confidence comes from the Lord Jesus Christ, and nothing else.

One more thing Joyce Meyer says is that we women who have our hope in Christ are to be JOYFUL. We are also to be bearing much fruit in our life. If we’re not bearing fruit, then something needs to be pruned out. Something is choking the joyful fruit out of our life. Wow. I can’t get away from this thought.

It will take more than one week of 12-minute clear-minded praying to find out the things God wants me to prune from my life so I can bear more fruit. But I anxiously await His voice.

So it’s off to the treadmill I go.

A couple of weeks ago, Christianity Today magazine asked dozens of evangelical leaders what their top choices were for books that have helped shape evangelicalism. The editors compiled these nominations into a list of The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals.

How many books on this list have you read? I’ve only read 14 out of the 50, and to be honest, I’ve never even heard of the #1 book! Yet, apparently it had a huge impact on shaping the way we pray. It was written in the 1950s. Hmmmm … I’d like to read it someday to see why it was voted #1.

Several people wrote in to give feedback to the editors, complaining about books that were omitted. I found this interesting as well.

The big surprise for me was discovering that John and Elizabeth Sherrill ghostwrote three bestsellers. Are you ready for this? Here’s what the editors at Christianity Today say about the Sherrills:

John and Elizabeth Sherrill may be the most influential Christian authors you know nothing about. They appear three times on this list — step aside, C. S. Lewis and J. I. Packer—as co-authors of God’s Smuggler, The Cross and the Switchblade, and The Hiding Place.

Ghostwriters extraordinaire, longtime editors of Guideposts, and founders of Chosen Books (now a division of Baker Publishing), the couple also published Charles W. Colson’s Born Again. Their specialty: testimonials to the power of God’s Spirit. And, it seems, bestsellers.

How amazing is that! I’m still getting used to the idea that many Christian books I read are written by ghostwriters — who may or may not have their name on the cover of the book. Often, they don’t.

What the ghostwriter does is interview the person and then write his or her story through a first-person point of view. There’s an art to shaping a book like this. Interesting. Some writers I know refuse to do this without having their name on the book — but many do it anonymously for the money. I know several current Christian bestsellers that were ghostwritten, but I won’t spoil it for you! (You would be shocked — I was!)

I do know for a fact that Rick Warren wrote The Purpose-Driven Life! YEA! I heard his agent give a four-day seminar, and so he gave background details to how that incredible book came to be.

How many have you read? What do you think about this list?

I just received notification from Novel Journey that I’m today’s winner in their Best of Evil contest!

They said I’ve won autographed copies of Kathryn Mackel’s, The Hidden and The Departed. I’ve never read any Christian suspense novels before, yet I’ve heard Kathryn is a talented Hollywood screenwriter. It will be interesting to see how she creates scenes for novels that she probably envisions on the big screen.

Hey, you can jump in and join the contest too! All you have to do is leave a comment on Novel Journey between now and Halloween. They are GIVING away a ton of books, many of them autographed. (Now wouldn’t that make a nice Christmas present for someone, an autographed copy of a book?)

Has anybody read this book, Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog, yet?

Two days in a row, this little dog has been looking up at me. Yesterday, I was dashing through Wal-Mart with my son who NEEDED new arrows for his bow and arrow set. And I can’t walk out of there without checking out the book section. I saw this book, which I’ve never seen before.

Then today, I saw that it won two of the Quill Awards, for Best Audio and Best Biography. What is this book about? I love dogs. Is it about a little dog? Someone please tell me. And why did it win two awards?

A friend wrote me a few days ago and asked where she could get a copy of my book.

Well, since you asked …

I usually tell people the best place to buy Christian books is at your local Christian bookstore — because if we don’t give them business, they won’t be able to stay in business. Thousands of small mom-and-pop bookstores are closing every year. And unless you’re a celebrity and can sell a zillion copies, it’s tough getting your book in Wal-Mart.

But I just found out the good news that my book, From a Daughter’s Heart to Her Mom, is now available through Women of Faith. You can order a copy from the Women of Faith website here.

Of course, any online bookstore carries it, such as Amazon. My name isn’t on the cover; you can find it in small print on the back of the cover page. I really did write it though! The publisher is Nelson Books.

My kids are out of school this week on fall break, and we just got back from a short trip to the mountains. I want to blog blog blog and tell you all about it, but I’ve got a column due today. So I’m off to zip out a 600-word story that will entertain and hopefully enlighten my local readers who I love very much … especially the ones who write me!