Your Kid's Cute Saying Could be in My Next Book!

I KNOW your kids say cute, adorable things that make you smile, laugh, and cry with delight. I'd like to give you an opportunity to see those cute sayings in print, in my next book, Humor Helps.

The manuscript is a compilation of funny stories I've written, along with facts on how humor helps us grow emotionally and spiritually, lists of Top 10 Funniest Movies, and Quotes on Laughter.

I'd love to include a page on funny, cute sayings from YOUR kids, rather than unknown kids I've found online, or to fill a page with nothing but my own kids' and my grandkids' comments.

If you'd like me to include your kid's sayings--and they wouldn't be mortified by the noteriety--please email me at jeanettelevellie(at)gmail(dot)com no later than October 31, 2012. By sending your kid's sayings, you are granting me permission to use them in the book and in a future post on this blog.

Thanks in advance!

Back to the Army for more (Humor) Training

Please join me today at the Army of Ermas for a humorous look at shopping from a catalog on a plane.

If I tickle your funny bone while you're reading, I make make no apologies.

Why Humor?

Please join me at Sunnybank Meanderings today, where I'm guest blogging for my dear friend, Carole with an article entitled, "Why Humor?"

Have a Splendid weekend!

Jen

What About YOU? Birth Order

Every Monday I ask a question, to get to know YOU better.
Ready for today's?


What is your position of birth order in your family?
How has it affected your life and (if applicable) your writing?

I am the youngest of two and the only girl.
When my brother claims Mom spoiled me,
I throw myself down on the floor and hold my breath
until he recants.

I believe having that youngest, only female position tempted me to act silly for attention. I still yield to that temptation in my writing.

I love to make people laugh, then punch them with the truth of God's word. It feels as satisfying as punching my brother in the arm for teasing me all those years.

Your Turn...

I've Joined the Army!

Are you surprised? Well, when the recruiter emailed me with a personal invitation, I couldn't say "NO" could I? Especially when she explained all the benefits to me and others.

Getting to know fellow humor writers on a best-friend basis.

Traveling to exotic places without leaving my office.

Using my writing skills to make people laugh.

"Sign me up!" I giggled. For the Army of Ermas humor blog, of course.


This is a community of humor columnists who've banded together to make life more bearable, in the spirit of the late Erma Bombeck. All the posts are created by humor writers about everyday happenings like taking vacations with kids, tearing yourself away for a girls' night out, and choosing palatable diet foods.

I will be unplugged to visit grandbabies until Monday, April 19th, but will post on Army of Ermas Wedsnesday the 14th. I'd love you to visit me there, where I'll talk about why I elected myself as president of the I Hate Housework Club.

See you then! Blessings on you as you live and write for your Audience of ONE,
Jen

The Man Who Wrote the Book on Humor, Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of our interview with Jim Watkins, award winning author, editor and speaker. If you'd like to win one of Jim's books, please leave a comment at the end of this post.

Jen: One of my favorite writers’ resources is a compilation you edited called, “Writers on Writing.” It includes articles by Jerry B. Jenkins, Liz Curtis Higgs and James Scott Bell. My copy looks like a color book, with orange, pink and yellow highlights throughout. With all the craft and how-to-write books on the market, what prompted you to write another?

Jim: WOW is sort of the “best of” writing advice from a virtual “who’s who” in Christian writing. It was actually envisioned by Wesleyan Publishing House to use in conjunction with the conference they sponsor in Indianapolis every November.

WPH’s second writing book was Communicate to Change Lives, which specifically addresses how to write and speak persuasively. I think there is a great need for this book. I would go to writers’ conferences and learn the mechanics and marketing of writing, but never a class on actually changing lives with one’s writing. So I approached WPH with the proposal and they also felt there was a real need.

Jen: Do you mind talking a little about your somewhat unusual marriage, since you are a “preacher’s husband?” I understand your lovely wife, Lois, is the pastor of a Friend’s church. How do you like this role?

Jim: I think the motto on the Watkins’ coat of arms should be “Nunquam Normalis”—“Never Normal.” I was one of the very first full-time youth pastors in the 70s, lived in a girl’s dorm for six years (Lois was resident director) and have been a pastor’s husband for nearly twenty years.
There are the usual “living in the parsonage” challenges, but I am thrilled that Lois is living out her passion, affirmation and talents. She is a great pastor! So, I’ve been a champion of women in ministry in my writing: http://www.jameswatkins.com/womeninministry.htm

Jen: Although your book “Squeezing Good out of Bad” is a comic look at trials, it squeezed a few tears from these eyes. Can you tell us a little about a few of the trials God has brought you through, and how His faithfulness has strengthened your faith?

Jim: The premise of the book is that believers use Romans 8:28 as a promise verse: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” But we don’t always go on to verse 29 and discover that “purpose”—“to be conformed to the image of his Son.”

And so God has used cancer, unemployment, family crises, chronic nose hair, etc., etc. to conform me to the image of Christ. And here’s the most amazing verse of all: “So even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Amazing, indeed! If Jesus had to suffer to learn obedience, then I can expect a whole truck load of “lemons” in my life.
(You can read about the challenges I’ve faced at http://www.jameswatkins.com.)

Jen: Thank you, Jim, for joining us today. Do you have any final words of encouragement or advice for aspiring writers?

Jim: My pleasure! Let’s see, I think it all comes down to: Write. Rewrite. Network. Persist.

(You can find a lot more writing resources at http://www.jameswatkins.com/manu.htm .)

You will love Jim's website, I promise, or your money back. It is full of excellent advice for writers, humorous and poignant articles, and wonderfully outspoken opinions on everything from sex to spirituality.

Leave your name and email in the comment section for an opportunity to win one of Jim's books. I will draw the winner on October 6th at 5 p.m.

Jim Watkins: The Man Who Wrote the Book on Humor

Are you ready for some fun? I have invited Jim Watkins, an award-winning humor writer to join us today, and he graciously agreed. The above is not Jim's graduation photo.

Jen: Jim, your writing style is very easy to read, flowing naturally. I remember you saying, “If something is easy to read, it was difficult to write. And if it is difficult to read, it was too easy to write.” Can you explain this statement, please?

Jim: First, thanks for letting me visit your blog. What a privilege.
Second, the problem with writing is that anyone with a third grade education can write. That’s why, as an editor, I see so much bad prose and poetry—and why this big, mean editor rejects 99 percent of what he receives unsolicited. The secret to writing well is rewriting—and that takes blood, sweat and tears.

Anne Lamott, in her writing book Bird by Bird, explains, “I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts. All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much. We do not think that she has a rich inner life or that God likes her or can even stand her.”
Finding Forrester is a wonderful movie about a grumpy old author (Sean Connery) who mentors a wannabe writer. He tells his student, “Write the first draft with your heart; the second draft with your head.”

“Easy reading,” then, is the result of very hard—and heartless—rewriting. It’s cutting lengthy, run-on sentences down to 15-words or less. Reading it out loud to see if it “sounds” right. Asking a grumpy old author to honestly critique our work.

Jen: Did you pursue a writing career, or did it jump out and grab you?

Jim: By second grade, I knew I wanted to be a writer. I felt the suspension of disbelief was stretched too thin when the real-live puppet Pinocchio became a real live boy. So I rewrote the ending having the wooden puppet die a painful, prolonged death of Dutch elm disease. (At that point, I’m sure my parents and teachers weren’t sure if I’d become a writer or a life-long patient at a psychiatric hospital.) I later went on to become the editor of my high school paper, worked at a Christian publishing house as an editor during college, and then dabbled in writing while holding down a real job. Since 1988 I’ve been writing and speaking full-time.
Many child development experts claim one’s profession is determined in elementary school. One bit of advice I’d offer, then, is actually a P-A-T answer to the question of “What do I want to be when I grow up?” What is your passion? For what are you being affirmed? and what are your talents? When passion, affirmation and talents line up, that’s what God has created you to do with your life.

I hope you wrote that last sentence down, friends--Jen

Jen: You have won awards for your books, yet you say that’s not where you find your identity. When you look in the mirror, where does your esteem come from?

Jim: Yes, I’ve won a Campus Life “Book of the Year” award, a Christian Retailers Choice award, an Amy Foundation award for using Scripture in a secular article, and four Evangelical Press Association award for editing, but let’s total those up: seven.

Compare that to 365 days a year since 1988: seven vs. 4,015! Awards can’t motivate and encourage you more than a few days at a time. So for the other four thousand days, I need some other motivation to get out of bed and make me sit in front of a computer for eight hours. And most important, I need something more substantial on which to build my identity and esteem than fleeting awards.

If my identity is built on being an award-winning author and speaker, what happens when I don’t win an award? When I get a rejection slip? When I don’t get invited to a prestigious conference. My identity gets bloodied and battered. But here’s what I cling to from Brennan Manning's wonderful book Abba's Child.
“Make the Lord and his immense love for you constitutive of your personal worth. Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. God's love for you and his choice of you constitute your worth.” That's another keeper!--Jen

Jen: Let’s talk a little about humor, which you wrote the book on, since your latest book is entitled, “Writing with Bananas Peels: Principles, Practices and Pratfalls of Writing Humor.” You employ a lot of funny business in your writing. Am I wrong in assuming most people appreciate that? Has your sense of humor ever gotten you into trouble?

Jim: I actually wrote a paper in graduate school called, “Effectiveness of the Use of Humor on Persuasive Messages in Print.” It cited university studies claiming that “humor attracts attention in all types of persuasive messages.” Humor connects with an audience and thus lowers the reader’s defenses.

And, yes, there have been times my humor has gotten me into trouble. But if you know your audience—and their boundaries—humor is a powerful, persuasive tool.

Notice he hedged the details of trouble he's been in...

I am offering as a prize this week your choice from three of Jim's books: "Writing with Banana Peels," "Squeezing Good from Bad," or "Writers on Writing." Please leave a comment with your email address to enter the drawing. If you come back Friday, you may enter a second time. You have until Tuesday October 6th at 4:00 p.m. I will post the winner the 7th.