AngelaBenson.com

Do any of you struggle with healthy eating or maintaining an exercise program? Well, I do. I’ll do well for a while and then I’ll get lax and fall apart. This happens over and over and over.

Anyway, I found this Bible-based health program, FirstPlace, that I’ve going to try. I bought the materials a while back but never really got into them. So, starting Monday, April 10, I’m starting FirstPlace.

If you’re interested in joining me in this 1o-week journey, let me know. The Bible study books are structured for daily study, and require much less time each day than what we’ve been spending with the 90 Day Plan. I’ll post each week on my progress, so you’ll have a chance to keep me encouraged. I’m starting with the Everyday Victory for Everyday People study. You can probably get a copy from your local Christian bookstore or you can order it from Amazon.com.

You’ll notice that I haven’t used the terms “weight” or “weight loss” and that’s intentional. We’re not going to focus on weight; we’re going to focus on meeting our weekly exercise and eating goals. Let me know if you want to join me. Also, feel free to join in even if you’re using another plan. We can still encourage each other. Ready?

The book lover in you will love the LibraryThing. This site allows you to maintain an online catalog of your books. You get to input up to 200 books for free; above that number, you pay $10 per year or a $25 lifetime fee. I’ve paid the 25 bucks already.
Why do I like this site? First, it’s very easy to input your books. You can input the book title or author and the system will search Amazon (or other libraries) to find the ISBN, cover and pertinent information. You do this on the “Add Books” page here. Or, you can use their universal import form and grab the ISBNs from any web page. You do that here. This feature I love. Since I tend to buy all the books of my favorite authors, I like to import their entire book list at one time. You can do this by entering the URL of a page that includes all their titles. For example, I do a search here and then I input the URL of the results page in the univeral import page. In one stroke, I enter all the books for that author.
The second thing I love about this site is that you can look at other people’s libraries. Once you’ve entered your books the system will automatically tell you which books you have in common with other users in the system. Third and last, I like that once I’ve input the books, I can easily download the ISBN and related information. This is important to be because I have a lot of old books that I’ve thought about selling on either Amazon.com or Half.com, but I’ve been reluctant to enter them one-by-one. Now, I can just download all the ISBNs from LibraryThing and upload them into either Amazon or Half.com.
You can check out my library here. It’s by no means complete, (it actually lists some books that I don’ t own), but it’s a start. I would guess that I have over 1000 books so this is going to be a long project. Let me know if you decide to put your library online. We may find that we have a lot of books in common.

As you can see, we’re on Day 78 of the 88 Day Plan (or, Day 80 of the 90 Day Plan), meaning we’re about five days behind the official Bible in 90 Days Reading Plan. We’re going to gain some ground in the coming week, but it looks like we’re going to go over the 90 Days.

Since the last posting, I’ve made it through Mark, Luke and John. It was great reading them so closely behind each other. The repetition of events across the four gospels served to drive home a lot of points and aslo to highlight the differences in the presentations.

Reading through Mark, I was struck by number of healings that Jesus conducted. There seemed to be so many sick people who had no hope until Jesus. There was the man at the pool who couldn’t get in because people kept getting in front of him. I wondered why no one helped him, and then it occurred to me that people were probably trying to help themselves. Then there was the man who was dropped down from the ceiling so he could get ahead of the throng who was trying to get to Jesus. These people really needed help and Jesus was their only help.

As I read I wondered if modern medicine was a miracle in itself, thinking that we don’t have that many sick people today. Then it occurred to me that we did. We just don’t see them on the streets and out among us. They’re in hospitals, homes, other countries. Some of them could be healed with modern medicine, but many need a miracle that goes beyond medicine. Where is Jesus for those people? Something tells me He’s in us. So why aren’t we healing the sick? Something to think about.

In Luke, I was touched by chapter 18, verses 29-30:

“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you, everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over in this life, as well as receiving eternal life in the world to come.” -Luke 18:29-30 (NLT)

I always think of the heavenly reward in store for Christians, but not much about the earthly rewards. Here Jesus suggests that his disciples will be rewarded in this life and in the life to come. Does this imply material gain to you or spiritual gain or some combination? I’m going to have to ponder on this one.

In John, I smiled when I read the conversation between Jesus and his mother at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-12 (NLT)). For me it was such a typical mother-son exchange (except for the miracle part, of course), yet this was Jesus, our Saviour. How human He was!

Finally, I think the following conversation between Jesus and Peter sums up our lives as Christians:

At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you going to leave, too?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life. We believe them, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” -John 6:66-69

I’ll leave you with those words. Have a great week and don’t forget to share what you’re learning.

I did an interview with LaShaunda Hoffman at Shades of Romance that was posted last Sunday. If you get some time, take a peek here. She also posted an excerpt of The Amen Sisters. If you haven’t read the prologue, you can do so here.

As you’ve probably figured out, I’m a bit behind this week. I’ve just started Mark, which means I have some catching up to do. And just so you know, I feel guilty about it. I wanted to stay caught up. It actually felt good to stay on track. I sorta took pride in doing so, which should have been a big ole red flag. Duh? Now I take comfort in the scripture that Robin Lee Hatcher shared with those who may be struggling a bit on the 90 Day journey. It’s one many of you know very well:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” - Romans 8:1

So, if you’ve had a bit of a struggle on the journey, know that you’re not alone. Just don’t give up. Keep reading and, most important, keep enjoying the time that you spend with the Lord. I’ll stop beating up on myself now (you should, too) and move on to Matthew.

During the past week and a half, I probably listened to Matthew on CD three times and started reading it two or three times, before finally reading it all the way through with the feeling that I had gotten what God wanted me to get from it. I think I’ve figured out why I had so much trouble. I think it’s because Matthew is so familiar to me. So familiar that I wasn’t allowing it to minister to me as it should.

But once I allowed the Word to do its work, things changed. You know, I laughed and I cried as I read this book. I felt the deep love, concern and compassion that Jesus had for the people. He felt deeply their need for leaders who would guide them and meet their needs. He saw a big job before Him, and very few helpers to assist Him.

I also saw the cruelty of the religious leaders and the people who followed them. As they schemed against Jesus, I thought of the way they’d schemed against Jeremiah. The religious leaders really didn’t like people who had a close relationship with God. That was true then and it’s still true today. These words of Jesus to His disciples rang fresh in my heart:

“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Be as wary as snakes and harmless as doves. But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and beaten in the synagogues. And you must stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. This will be your opportunity to tell them about me–yes, to witness to the world. When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say in your defense, because you will be given the right words at the right time. For it won’t be you doing the talking–it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. -Matt. 10:16-20 (NLT)

Boy, did those words speak to my heart! They were true for Jeremiah, John the Baptist and Jesus, and they’re true for us today. I take comfort in the knowledge that what we go through has a purpose: it provides an opportunity to be used by God as His witness on the earth. Even though I know this is true, I have to remind myself often because sometimes I get lost in what’s happening in my life and lose sight of God’s purpose. I know I’ve missed many opportunities to witness for Him because I was so focused on what was happening to me that I wasn’t open for Him to use me like He wanted. There’s nothing I can do about the past (remember that “no condemnation” from Romans 8:1), but I can pray, and ask you to pray, that I do better in the future.

What do you you think? What are you going through this week? What opportunity to witness has God provided for you in the midst of it?

I had planned to keep you all updated with my fiction reading, but guess what? I’m not reading much fiction these days. I’m a pretty avid reader so this is strange for me. I think it has something to do with the 90 Bible reading plan. By the way, I’ll have the 90 Day post up on Wednesday.

Anyway, I just find that I don’t have as much time, or as much interest, in reading fiction as I did before. Now that’s a bit problematic since I’m a firm believer that good writers read a lot. So I’m going to try to get it at least a couple of books a month. My next two are going to be Defining Moments by Jacquelin Thomas and Murder, Mayhem and a Fine Man by Claudia Mair Burney. Claudia’s a new author to watch. Look for her book in July. I’m special so I have an early copy in galley form.

Speaking of new authors, one of my fellow Walk Worthy Press authors, Tiffany L. Warren (What a Sistah Should Do) is a finalist in Cush City’s New Author Contest. You can see the full list of nominees and vote HERE.

My web counter tells me that this web site gets over 200 visitors (1600 hits) per day and I want to hear from a lot of you. I’m going to devote a blog entry a week for you to make yourself known, so help me out here. I want to find out if that counter is really working, or if those counts are way, way off. So just click on Comments and tell me what you’re reading, or have read, lately. I really do want to know.

Question for the week: What are you reading?

Finally, I’m back with the Taking Back the Past series. This week’s topic is For All Time, my second book, which is also the second story included in the upcoming Harlequin 3-in-1 re-issue, Sweet Passion. With this book, I learned some tough, but valuable, publishing lessons.

For All Time was the second book of the two-book contract that I had with Arabesque Books. I got the idea from my cousin who had recently lost her job. For All Time tells the story of a young middle-class couple whose marriage is challenged when the husband loses his job at the same time that the wife gets a promotion on hers. I had a lot of fun writing this story and I was excited about it being even better than my first book, Bands of Gold. Hey, I had a writing career to build and I was serious about building it.

Then reality publishing happened. The general process from manuscript to book takes a few stages. First, the author completes the mansuscript and sends it to the editor for approval. The editor reads the manscript and issues the author a revision letter with questions, comments and recommendations. I was fortunate in that my editorial letters always resulted in a better, tighter, stronger story. So while I can’t say that I liked getting them, I can say that I appreciated them.

So the author receives the letter, reviews it and, after considering how to address all the listed items, makes a call to editor to clarify any concerns and to let the editor know how she plans to handle the items outlined in the letter. Note that the writer is not obliged to do everything the editor requested, but she is obliged to consider each item. During this phone call, the editor and author go back and forth a bit and finally agree, in broad terms, on how the manuscript will change or not change.

The author then makes the changes, and any other changes she thinks will make the story stronger. Many authors, me included, appreciate this final opportunity to make changes in the manuscript and use it as a opportunity to improve the story. Once the changes are completed, the author sends the revised manuscript back to the editor. If all goes well, the author gets a phone call from the editor a few weeks later saying that the manuscript is accepted and any associated advance money is being sent to the author. At this point, the author celebrates.

A few months later, the author receives galleys in mail. Galleys are book pages printed on standard copy/printer paper. The author’s job is to read the galleys to make sure that no errors were introduced into the manuscript during the typesetting process. Typically, the author gets a few days to do this. If everything in the publication process is working well, the author may have a few typos to correct and a few missing words to insert. If things are not working well, the author may realize that book that is being published is quite different from the book she submitted. The latter is what happened to me with For All Time.

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Writers have different feelings about contests. Some see them as invoking a competitive side of writers, themselves included, that they don’t like to see. Some see contests as a promotional opportunity that gets their books in the hands of new readers. I’m sure there are some who enter because of the thrill of winning. I fall into the second category. While I am always happy to win or final in a contest, I really do see them as a promotional vehicle that gets my books in hands of new readers.

Many contests require an entry fee and the submission of books. I’ve entered two of those this year: RWA’s RITA Award and FHL’s Inpirational Readers Choice Contest (IRCC) . The RITAs are judged by members of RWA while the IRCC Award is judged by readers. If you’re interested, you can nominate yourself to judge for in the IRCC. As a thanks for judging, you get to keep the books that you judge. Not bad, huh? The details can be found on FHL’s Inpirational Readers Choice Contest (IRCC) page. The RITA finalists will be announced on March 24 (my birthday); I’m not sure when the IRCC finalists will be announced.

Other contests require nomination by readers. RSJ’s Emma Award is such an award. The Amen Sisters was a finalist this year and I learned today that it won the Emma Award for Inspirational Romance. Thanks to all the readers who voted for the book. I appreciate your support.

Since I couldn’t attend RSJ this year and had to cancel at the last minute, I donated a book basket for a prize drawing. Yvonne from Springfield Gardens, NY was the lucky winner. She’ll receive hard cover versions of all three of my Christian fiction titles.

Some contests require your publisher to enter your book. The Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction is one such contest. Publishers nominate books and pay a $1000 fee that goes toward the promotion of the contest and the contest winners in addition to a standard entry fee per book entered. Those prices are a bit steep for the individual author so its up to the publisher to enter books. As I understand from Denise Stinson, Publisher at Walk Worthy Press (WWP), all WWP books are entered automatically each year. That means The Amen Sisters is entered. The finalists won’t be announced until May.

Contests aren’t only for published authors. Many unpublished authors enter contests to get feedback from the judges who are typically published authors or editors. I entered a few contests before I was published and the feedback that I received was well-worth the entry fee.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend entering contests if your sole purpose is to win OR if entering contests brings out an ugly side to your personality. If you value reaching new readers or if you want feedback on your work, contests can be one way of accomplishing those goals.

What do you think?

Well, it’s the first week of March and we’ve made it through the Old Testament. By the end of the month, our journey through the Bible will be complete. It’s been a quick journey and I’ve wanted to meander a few times but I’ve managed to stay on course. Now I’m ready to go back and vacation in some of the books that visited briefly during our journey. I’ve said I’m starting with Psalms but I’m very tempted to start with the books of the minor prophets that we read this week: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

The message that was driven home for me this week is what it means to be friends with God. The prophets served to make God’s thoughts, wishes, and warnings clearly known to His people. As I look back over the entire Old Testament, I don’t remember a single time that God kept a secret from His people, or set them up in an unexpected trap. Can you think of one? He always let them know what He was going to do before He did it. That’s what a friend does: a friend lets you in on his plans and his expectations; that’s exactly the way God operated in the Old Testament.

You know, I just thought of a possible exception: Job. That said, I don’t think Job takes away from the truth of God sharing with His friends. In Job’s case, God was so sure of Job’s heart that He didn’t feel a need to warn Job because He knew how Job would react. Again, an example of a close friendship. God acts in much the same way today. He’s let us know both what He expects of us as Christians and what we as Christians should expect from the world. We know this in a very general way, but many times He lets us in on the specifics. Can’t you look back on situations and see how God prepared you for them? I know I can so I’m sure you can, too. As Jesus told his disciples in John 15:15 (NLT):

I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn’t confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

I’d like to thank those of you taking the journey with me. You have helped to keep me on track. Knowing that you were here waiting and willing to share with me each week was a source of motivation and encouragment. Knowing I didn’t want to let you down, I pushed through sometimes when I wanted to fall off. This push towards excellence that we give each other is captured in Proverbs 27:17 (NLT).

As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.

Have a great week and don’t forget to share what you’re learning.

Okay, we’re back on the historical journey of my writing life from my beginnings as a general market romance novelist to my current career as a Christian fiction novelist. Thanks for taking a step back in time with me. Today, we’re going waaay back to when I sold my first book. In last week’s post, I told you about my early fifth grade writing experience and that fateful trip to a Romantic Times convention in Savannah (GA) much later where I decided to embark on writing again. This post picks up with my return home after that conference.

Well, writing a book wasn’t as easy as it seemed when I was listening to those three women at the conference. I realized I didn’t know how to get started. The smartest thing I did at that point was join Georgia Romance Writers, the Atlanta Chapter of Romance Writers of America. I don’t remember now how I learned about the organization but it must have been at the convention. Anyway, I attended my first meeting, where there was only one other black person, Carla Fredd, also a beginning writer attending her first meeting. I believe it was destiny; you’ll have to ask Carla what she thinks.

Sometime later Carla and I, along with two other GRW members, Bridget Anderson and Ami V., formed a critique group. I think we met once a week, but again I’m relying on memory here. I distinctly remember that because I working full-time, I wrote on the weekends. I didn’t allow myself to leave the house on Saturday morning until I’d written three chapters, which for me was three chapters. I remember being motivated do those three chapters so that I wouldn’t have to attend the upcoming critique group meeting empty-handed.

When I think about our early critique meetings, I have to laugh. We were excellent examples of the blind leading the blind. We had no clue what we were doing. We figured out point-of-view together; we struggled together with active and passive voice. Mostly, we supported and encouraged each other. That was the upside to being in a critique group. The downside was that sometimes our comments went too far. We’d begin to change, or want to change, each other’s stories. I think I was first one in the group to make a sale because I was the first to figure out that comments from others were merely points to consider, not requests that had to be heeded.

It took me about a year to write that first book, which I titled Dreams. I started querying agents and publishers after I had a good first three chapters and a synopsis, figuring that any interest would be a great motivator to finish the book. I compiled a large collection of rejection letters during this period, most of them form letters that weren’t even copied squarely on the page. It’s funny now, but it certainly pained me back then. I’d drag myself to the mailbox, holding my breath, wondering if I could bear another rejection. But I could and I did. Finally, a few people asked to see my manuscript. And more rejections piled up. More wondering if I could bear the rejection. More learning that I could.

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