Win a $15 Gift Card for Your Book Title Idea!

Ah, that signing a contract smile!

#helpmeplease #titlefornewbook #timemanagementforwriters

I'm a desperate pastor's wife. I need your help, and am willing to pay for it.

This week I signed my second book contract, for a booklet called Time Management for Part-time Writers.

I'm very excited about getting these tips and strategies into the hands of overly-busy writers who need help and encouragement, but. . .

Please help me title my new baby!

The working title is boring. Can you help me come up with a snappier one? I like:

• plays on words,
• clever twists, and
• words with a k in them.

And if you don't come to my rescue, I may lie awake for the next six months, ruminating and agonizing.

Please leave your ideas in the comment section below, and I'll choose my favorite one and send you a $15 gift card of your choice (within reason)!

I'll leave this post up for ten days, which is Sunday, October 20th at 4:00 p.m. I will post the winner on Tuesday, October 22. Thanks in advance for all your great ideas!

P.S. Please leave me your email addy, so if you win, I can contact you!

Help me Choose my Brand, Please

Ever feel a tad frustrated?  I thought my BRAND was "Nutty with a Dash of Meat." Turns out this is a tagline that describes my writing style, not my message or ministry.

After I read the blog post by Michelle Sutton on the Hartline Blog, I started thinking, “What is my message? What do I want to say in my writing? When I leave this earth, what will people remember me for?”

My brain has been storming for two days now. I’ve asked friends, co-workers, my agent, even my husband for ideas. Now I need your help. I’ve narrowed the list down to four favorites, and I’d like your input.

Please tell me which Brand name best suits the mission and ministry you see in my writing. And if you have another idea for a Brand, I’m all eyes. It must include humor and inspiration, and be short and snappy, not sappy. Thanks for your help, you wonderful yous!

Here are the four finalists:

• Healing Humor

• Stories of Mirth and Worth

• Mirth with a Message

• Messages of Wit and Worth

What do you think?

And... please join me today on my friend Rhonda Schrock's blog, The Natives are Getting Restless, where I hope to tickle your funny bone in my story, Poops Happen.

Woman Snowed in with Noisy Man

Someone help me. Please.

I am home from work early due to snow. I think, “Excellent! I will have the entire afternoon to write, blog and catch up on emails. Thank you Jesus!”

And then.

Because my DH works from home, he is also here. And since I mostly write on Saturdays and evenings while he’s gone, I had forgotten how much noise he makes. The heavy stomping down the hall every few seconds. The talking to himself. The jolts of irritating Southern Gospel music sneaking through the walls to choke my creativity.


I think this man could find a way to make noise while folding a towel.




What I’d planned as an afternoon of peaceful writing has devolved into a prayer meeting of one. Me. Asking God to keep me from whapping my DH upside the head, or give me patience to write anyway.


Do you need silence to create? Or do you thrive with a little background noise?

A Contest!!!

Win a Prize by Critiquing my Verbal Pitches!!!

I have been working on my verbal pitches for the Write to Publish conference June 3-6, and I need help!!! At the conference I attended in November, I was so clueless I sat and chitchatted with both editors I met with, until they finally asked how they could help me! (It must have been okay, because I’ve since sold five articles to one of them!)

This time I want to be prepared, and you can be part of my victory. Please take a look at the two pitches below, and then post a critique. It could be helpful criticism or suggestions for changes. Anything that may improve the pitches, making them shine.

For the top five critiques, I will send you a package of 75 bright yellow Super Sticky Post it notes. These are the real deal, from 3M, not the generic brand. For the #1 best critique, in addition to the Post-it notes I will send a set of two lovely “pink ribbon” Uni-ball gel pens. Part of the proceeds from the sale of these pens goes to help breast cancer research.

You have until 6:15 p.m., Central time Thursday to post. I will declare the winners on my Friday post. Thank you in advance for your kind help!

Here they are:

The first book, already completed and in the final stages of editing, is a devotional entitled God Is Bigger: Custom Made Grace for Hope Starved Hearts. It is a compilation of seventy articles, totaling approximately 175 pages. The articles are taken from my inspirational/humor column published over the last eight years in my local newspaper, with a readership of over 5,000. God Is Bigger offers a lighthearted look at God’s grace in four different areas: What we think of God, What we think of ourselves, What we think of others, and What we think of life’s challenges. My writing style is warm, homey, humorous and uplifting. Filled with funny and touching stories gleaned from my life and others’, along with truths from the Word, God Is Bigger offers hope for discouraged hearts.



My Work in Progress is titled, The Secret Life of a Preacher’s Wife. It is a humorous look at life behind the parsonage walls. I use my thirty-four years of experiences and stupid mistakes as a springboard for encouraging anyone who is in ministry, about to enter ministry, or simply curious about life as a pastor’s spouse. Secret Life is not a teaching book, but a homey, humorous look at what I did wrong and right, along with insights to help others on the ministry path. Some of the chapters are “When the Fishbowl Needs Cleaning,” “Can Preachers Have Sex on Sunday?” and “True Confessions of a Hypocrite.”


With a goal of 50,000, the book is 15% finished.